How do divide memories from story

I use the * * * at the beginning and end.
I think its 3 tabs in *tab*tab*
I like how it breaks up past and present to the character/story...
I would stick with it.

Yeah, italics get annoying if they're too long.

A normal scene break is fine. Whatever you do for those. I just hit "return" twice. If you happen to double space, maybe throw in an asterisk or two for good measure.

Is it possible to do it such that the memories don't have to be cut off? Like:

At the familiarity of the book in her hand, she paused. That's right, she'd seen it the night that John had bla bla bla.

Something along those lines? I tend to find it annoying when things like that are real cut off.

Stunted said:

Is it possible to do it such that the memories don't have to be cut off? Like:

At the familiarity of the book in her hand, she paused. That's right, she'd seen it the night that John had bla bla bla.

Something along those lines? I tend to find it annoying when things like that are real cut off.

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Yes, good point, but it does depend upon the length of the memory I think. If its a sentence (Italic) If its a paragraph or shorter (keep with text) if it is going to be longer then a paragraph (I would seperate it)

Greenify13 said:

Yes, good point, but it does depend upon the length of the memory I think. If its a sentence (Italic) If its a paragraph or shorter (keep with text) if it is going to be longer then a paragraph (I would seperate it)

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Agreed. That's how I do it, at least. Just make it apparent in your text that it's a memory, either with a lead-in from the section before, or details within the first couple sentences of the memory that reveal it's a flashback.

And nix on the italics -- they're too affected. Plus, hard to read.

How long are these flashes?

If they're just a few paragraphs, you can probably get away with italics. If it goes on for several pages, use a scene break.

For me: How I divide memories from story

I've got the same problem with my book. One reader said it "got choppy" and another reader said it became a "mess and did not follow." The second reader is a publishing heavyweight, so I took her seriously. In analyzing that second half of my book I saw that some flashbacks can be organically placed because they follow the flow of the narrative. Others did not, so I cut them back to the bare minimum to make my point about the MC's past and made dialog out of them. People tell stories to each other. The give and take between dialog members also helped the stories come alive and to put them into the flow of the main story. I also considered using them in letters, some may fit that way. One or two I cut, put into another file, and will use them in a story or another novel sometime. I try to stick to serving the main story and the MC best by giving the reader an honest chance at it. I try to write the "imagination of the story" and not fall in love with the words I've written. Good luck.