Brief Flashbacks

cardanise · Nov 15, 2018

Yea, my second post outside the introduction!

Anyway, I want to ask general advice when writing brief, but informative flashbacks of a main character. When would be a good time to set one, or to possibly discard it?

For instance in the story I'm writing my MC is fleshing a hide using a primitive bone tool. The task itself is a very focused, but repetitive process. So, her mind drifts to a couple years prior between the MC and her younger sister on a hunting trip and we glimpse an interaction between them. The point, I hope, would be inform the reader of the MC and family interactions with brief backstory.

Toto Too · Nov 15, 2018

cardanise said:
Yea, my second post outside the introduction!

Anyway, I want to ask general advice when writing brief, but informative flashbacks of a main character. When would be a good time to set one, or to possibly discard it?

For instance in the story I'm writing my MC is fleshing a hide using a primitive bone tool. The task itself is a very focused, but repetitive process. So, her mind drifts to a couple years prior between the MC and her younger sister on a hunting trip and we glimpse an interaction between them. The point, I hope, would be inform the reader of the MC and family interactions with brief backstory.

Hi, and welcome!

Opinions on flashbacks will vary, but in general you just want to make sure they flow with the story and don't feel like you're just info dumping without being able to find a more subtle way of doing it. I think as long as the flashback is engaging, and feels like it's pushing the story forward rather than making the reader wonder why you're taking them out of the story, it should work. It seems like you're working it in nicely with the way the mc's mind is drifting. It sounds to me like it will work, but you need to use your "writer's ear" to determine if you are going to lose your reader or not.

Not sure if that helps!

Bufty · Nov 16, 2018

Use a flashback if it is relevant and if and when it contributes to character or story development. But remember that if you do use a flashback the present story comes to a complete halt while you deliver the flashback so it (the flashback) had better be interesting.

And be very wary and careful with backstory - it is dead and gone and although you may need to know it in order to write the story, the reader rarely needs to know it in order to follow the story.

Read widely, including stories of the type you wish to write. That will help you see and understand how others have dealt with flashbacks and backstory.

indianroads · Nov 16, 2018

As Buffy said - a flashback has to contribute to the character or story - usually (not always) I think these are more about character development because it's a memory that tells you something about them.

But (IMO as usual), it's a 'FLASH'back - that is, it's brief, like one of those fleeting memories that runs through our heads when we see something that triggers us. Many years ago I was reading a story that had the MC bleeding (possibly to death) out in a field, and she had a flashback ... that went on for at least 2 chapters. I said 'at least' because I tossed the book aside out of frustration after leaving the poor woman to bleed for two chapters.

So, I suggest you make these brief and relevant.

Harlequin · Nov 16, 2018

I tend to think they go best at the start of a chapter. I know, I know, we shoudln't give specific advice like that, but... I do find them jarring when nestled within an ongoing narrative unless it's structured as a scene break.

Lakey · Nov 16, 2018

Harlequin said:
I tend to think they go best at the start of a chapter. I know, I know, we shoudln't give specific advice like that, but... I do find them jarring when nestled within an ongoing narrative unless it's structured as a scene break.

This entirely depends upon what you mean by flashback. If you're talking about an entire scene that takes place at a previous time relative to the story's narrative, then it perhaps needs to be separated from the current scene with a scene break or by coming at the beginning of a chapter or some such.

If it's a sentence or two or three of backstory, a memory or emotion in the POV character triggered by something she experiences during the narrative, then it can flow naturally and organically as part of her internal state within the scene. Separating it out into its own scene would be bizarre.

cardanise, can you say a little bit more about how you are using the word flashback?

:e2coffee:

D. E. Wyatt · Nov 16, 2018

As with a lot of things, the structure and type of story can have a big effect on this as well.

One of my projects doesn't have flashbacks per se, but it does alternate chapters between events in the present, and events in the past that establish HOW we got to the present-day status quo. However the chapters set in the past also comprise their own narrative that will eventually connect to the preset day once it catches up.

Woollybear · Nov 16, 2018

I use some short flashbacks. I also personally like them in the books I read. They provide discrete packets of information. But I agree they can be overdone.

Reading in your genre you'll see little alternative tricks to put in background information that might currently exist as flashback in your story. I cut my flashbacks from eight to four with these sorts of tricks, like the 'So-and-so used to say' trick:

Mary's aunt used to say (during Sunday dinners) (on the farm), (meals at which her brother expected to be in charge, a perspective she never tolerated,) that a woman's place was anywhere but the kitchen.

--The parentheses all provide different bits of backstory.

Or the 'He remembered' trick.

He remembered it being different when he was young. The women were always in the kitchen.

(Or without the filter, your call, I think a few filters here and there are good but YMMV):

It had been so different when he was young. The women were always in the kitchen.

Et cetera. Reading in your genre with an eye for how authors introduce backstory is quite illuminating. I am of the opinion that you should not ignore the importance of backstory, and some of the rules we read sound as though you must always stay moving forward without any glance backward. To me, that is unnatural and lacks depth. Characters are more interesting with a little context.

One of my favorite authors weaves time (backstory and aspirations, 'future story') into almost every paragraph. It's remarkable to read her and see her doing this, through a dozen different tricks.

neandermagnon · Nov 16, 2018

cardanise said:
Yea, my second post outside the introduction!

Anyway, I want to ask general advice when writing brief, but informative flashbacks of a main character. When would be a good time to set one, or to possibly discard it?

For instance in the story I'm writing my MC is fleshing a hide using a primitive bone tool. The task itself is a very focused, but repetitive process. So, her mind drifts to a couple years prior between the MC and her younger sister on a hunting trip and we glimpse an interaction between them. The point, I hope, would be inform the reader of the MC and family interactions with brief backstory.

When/where is your story set? I like prehistoric fiction. (That might be evident from my username and avatar :greenie

)

Bufty · Nov 16, 2018

Flashback, recollection, passing memory, fleeting recall, backstory etc., etc..

These are all devices/techniques available to use as considered necessary.

BUT - to be effective they have to be the right length, have the right content and be in the right place at the right time.

Experience is the only way we can individually decide for ourselves what are the appropriate parameters when deciding what information needs to be included (and how) in our respective novels - and only readers can confirm whether or not we made the right choices.

In other words, OP, in your story only you can decide when and if it's relevant to put in whatever information you wish to reveal.

May not seem too helpful, but it's good info based on what you submitted.

Good luck

cardanise · Nov 16, 2018

Lakey said:
This entirely depends upon what you mean by flashback. If you're talking about an entire scene that takes place at a previous time relative to the story's narrative, then it perhaps needs to be separated from the current scene with a scene break or by coming at the beginning of a chapter or some such.

If it's a sentence or two or three of backstory, a memory or emotion in the POV character triggered by something she experiences during the narrative, then it can flow naturally and organically as part of her internal state within the scene. Separating it out into its own scene would be bizarre.

cardanise, can you say a little bit more about how you are using the word flashback?

I think why I mean by 'flashback' would be as you described it, a memory triggered by a current event (emotionally charged to cause it). But as others have stated, it needs to be brief and relevant.

cardanise · Nov 16, 2018

neandermagnon said:
When/where is your story set? I like prehistoric fiction. (That might be evident from my username and avatar )

My story is in a fantasy setting, the kind with dwarves, elves, ect.

Bufty · Nov 16, 2018

We were, I think, looking for your understanding re the potential 'length' of a 'flashback'.

The coverage of what you define as a 'memory triggered by a current event' can be any length at all from a one sentence recollection to whatever it has to be, be that one or more scenes or chapters.

BrumBall · Nov 18, 2018

Patty said:
One of my favorite authors weaves time (backstory and aspirations, 'future story') into almost every paragraph. It's remarkable to read her and see her doing this, through a dozen different tricks.

Who is the author, just out of interest?

BethS · Nov 18, 2018

Patty said:
I have no idea if it is frowned upon

No, of course not. It's a tool, and a matter of authorial style as to where and how often it's used.

Sonsofthepharaohs · Nov 19, 2018

Patty, what you're referring to is backstory. The 'trick' you're describing is the drip-feed method, as opposed to the infodump, which is now considered a hallmark of bad writing (which perhaps wasn't the case in the 80s, when the books you're referring to were published, so the drip-feed method may have seemed more innovative, whereas it's fairly standard now). Flashback is just other 'trick' for delivering backstory, but again is becoming more frowned upon as it is often cited by agents as a bugbear, due to overuse. I think it can be effective, it's just a matter of choosing the appropriate method that works for that particular scene.

Speaking of which... Cardanise, about your 'hide fleshing' scene - beware the boring framing scene that exists purely for the purpose of being a flashback delivery vehicle. If the scene is so boring that you have to insert a flashback just to make it bearable to the reader, chances are it doesn't need to be there. The flashback can be as exciting as you like, but if at the end of it the reader has to go back to the boring scene where nothing of any note happens, the overall impression is one of inertia, lack of action, character sitting there thinking. That's dead plot space. Many unpublishable novels are full of characters staring out of a window, thinking and reminiscing about more exciting scenes.

Just show the exciting scenes as they happen. If you absolutely need to include backstory (and as Bufty said, the reader usually doesn't need as much as you think they do), find a less boring time to drip-feed it in, as per the above quoted method.

Woollybear · Nov 19, 2018

I use the word 'trick' because authors does this in so many different ways. Including flashback, IIRC.

Sonsofthepharaohs · Nov 19, 2018

Patty said:
(I use the word 'trick' because she does this in so many different ways. Including flashback, IIRC.

[...]

I agree, it is all back story, and she folds it in frequently and unobtrusively by using different approaches to it. I had not heard this called drip feeding before, but yes I suppose that is what it is.)

Seamlessly inserting backstory into the narrative is a great skill, and some writers are better at it than others, but I guess I'm just surprised anyone would consider it an exception. To me it's pretty standard novel writing - I can't honestly think of a novel that doesn't do this to a lesser or greater extent.

BethS · Nov 19, 2018

Patty said:
I had not heard this called drip feeding before, but yes I suppose that is what it is.)

Author Diana Gabaldon calls it the jacquard method, after the weaving technique used for brocades and other frabric types. And it's not just for backstory; a writer can subtly weave in all sorts of details that are or will become important later.

Woollybear · Nov 19, 2018

Yes, I agree, I believe these woven details can do a lot to further character for example, perhaps independently of revealing backstory. And other things.

Anyway, OP: Read your favorite author. There is a good chance (heheh) that they have lots of tricks that will allow you to bypass flashback, if that becomes a goal of yours. Personally, I really like the 'so-and-so used to say blah blah' method, because it tells you who the PoV character values as a source of wisdom. And that develops character. It also provides information from the past. But overuse of it would start to be annoying and sound like the poor PoV character had no original thought of their own! Ha!

cardanise · Nov 19, 2018

Kallithrix said:
Patty, what you're referring to is backstory. The 'trick' you're describing is the drip-feed method, as opposed to the infodump, which is now considered a hallmark of bad writing (which perhaps wasn't the case in the 80s, when the books you're referring to were published, so the drip-feed method may have seemed more innovative, whereas it's fairly standard now). Flashback is just other 'trick' for delivering backstory, but again is becoming more frowned upon as it is often cited by agents as a bugbear, due to overuse. I think it can be effective, it's just a matter of choosing the appropriate method that works for that particular scene.

Speaking of which... Cardanise, about your 'hide fleshing' scene - beware the boring framing scene that exists purely for the purpose of being a flashback delivery vehicle. If the scene is so boring that you have to insert a flashback just to make it bearable to the reader, chances are it doesn't need to be there. The flashback can be as exciting as you like, but if at the end of it the reader has to go back to the boring scene where nothing of any note happens, the overall impression is one of inertia, lack of action, character sitting there thinking. That's dead plot space. Many unpublishable novels are full of characters staring out of a window, thinking and reminiscing about more exciting scenes.

Just show the exciting scenes as they happen. If you absolutely need to include backstory (and as Bufty said, the reader usually doesn't need as much as you think they do), find a less boring time to drip-feed it in, as per the above quoted method.

I'll definatly take this into consideration when I do edits.

D. E. Wyatt · Nov 20, 2018

I like the "hide fleshing" scene idea so I'd hate to see that scrapped. It gives the character something to do, while also teaching the audience something they may not know about (I have a scene written around a character doing cloisonné work on a belt buckle in one of my stories). But then I like learning, even in entertainment, lol.

Woollybear · Nov 20, 2018

Also, repetitive action gives the opportunity for certain metaphors--Drumbeats, marches, rowing, anything with rhythm and purpose. Her mother throwing the dough ball over every third knead, again and again. Her father whetting his knife.

maggiee19 · Nov 28, 2018

I don't know if this is correct, but this is how I write flashbacks:

Lucy kissed Ben. She had a flashback of when Tony beat her.

BethS · Nov 28, 2018

maggiee19 said:
I don't know if this is correct, but this is how I write flashbacks:

Lucy kissed Ben. She had a flashback of when Tony beat her.

If that's the extent of it, that's not a flashback, not in the literary sense. A flashback is written as a real-time scene, usually with gateways leading in and back out. What you've written above could serve as a gateway going in, but just by itself, with nothing more about her experience with Tony following it, it's only a brief glimpse of backstory.

Brief Flashbacks

cardanise

Toto Too

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

indianroads

Wherever I go, there I am.

Harlequin

Eat books, not brains!

Lakey

professional dilettante

D. E. Wyatt

Woollybear

neandermagnon

Nolite timere, consilium callidum habeo!

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

cardanise

cardanise

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

BrumBall

Keep Right On

BethS

Sonsofthepharaohs

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy

Woollybear

Sonsofthepharaohs

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy

BethS

Woollybear

cardanise

D. E. Wyatt

Woollybear

maggiee19

BethS