Flashbacks — How and When to Use Them

How to Handle Flashbacks and Keep Reader Interest

Oct 10, 2009

Flashbacks are mini-trips into the past that provide the reader with needed information and insight into what went on at a point before the novel's beginning.

In order to understand plot and character motivation, a certain amount of background material might need to be woven into a story in the form of a flashback or series of flashbacks.

Should a Story Ever Start With a Flashback?

Ordinarily, a flashback does not make a good beginning for a novel for it distances the reader from the here and now. If a writer is compelled to start a novel with a long flashback because there is too much to be explained about what happened before the story starts, the novel may not be set in the right point in time. The author should either consider setting the novel back at an earlier point, or creating a prologue to explain past events.

How to Make a Successful Flashback

Flashbacks should be used sparingly, and should create a seamless bridge from the past to the present and back again. A poor flashback can be an unwelcome intrusion that takes the reader away from the story and transplants him to a different place and time. The author must transport the reader from here to there in the least disruptive manner.

A good flashback begins with a word or phrase to indicate that the story is going back in time and ends with a word or phrase to return the reader to the present. Phrases such as he recalled the time, the song took her back, are indicators that the reader is going to take a trip down memory lane. Phrases such as her voice startled him into the present, the sound of a car horn jolted her out of her thoughts, takes the reader back into the present.

Once the flashback has begun, simple past tense should be used, not past perfect. Past perfect can be used during the initial transition from present to past, but sentences following the first one should be in past tense. (Putting the entire flashback in past perfect makes it awkward and tedious, bogged down by phrases such as he had had.)

Never Stop the Action With a Flashback

When it comes to flashbacks, timing is everything. A flashback should never occur in the exciting part of a story, as it will stop the action cold. It should, instead, occur in a part of the story where the character is reacting or reflecting.

Short flashbacks are often needed when a character’s action or reaction needs explanation that can be presented no other way. For example, a character might have a strong dislike of a blonde wearing a red dress for no apparent reason. A brief flashback can explain why that character has such a reaction. The sight of the woman in her flashy red dress took Jim back to the time of the prom when his date, her golden hair flashing against the red-sequined party dress, had slapped him in the face in front of everyone. Now the reader knows that the character associates blondes dressed in red with humiliation.

Long flashbacks should in general be avoided, but there are times when they are necessary to explain a current event or a character’s state of mind. Long flashbacks usually go back to a dramatic or traumatic point in time, such as the the night of a violent rape or assault, or the day the bride ran away from the altar. The long flashback should always have some important bearing on the story.

The copyright of the article Flashbacks — How and When to Use Them in Fiction Plots & Pacing is owned by Vickie Britton. Permission to republish Flashbacks — How and When to Use Them in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.