Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Flashbacks

This is topic Flashbacks in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :

It's me again. The unintentional stirrer of controversy. Hopefully this does not make too many people mad...

I noticed lots a people dislike flashbacks. Personally, I never really cared. In fact I really love a good flashback when reading. A series like Lost (I know it's TV but it still tells a tale) is a place where flashbacks thrive.

Years ago before I attempted writing and was just an avid reader of SF&F, I marveled at the flashbacks in Blood of Amber. Zelazny ended a chapter of a cliffhanger, and then the next was an entire chapter of flashbacks. Each one was prefaced with the word Power. Power. Flashback. Power. Flashback. And then the next chapter, bam, back in the action. I marveled at it. I thought it a terrific chapter.

Of course, I'm pretty flexible as long as the tale's good.

Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :

quote:
The unintentional stirrer of controversy.

I would be glad if you assumed this role from me. As it seems to me that I've unintentionally stirred a bit of late.

I like flashbacks, but I think it depends on when they happen and they should happen for a reason. I also like it when the beginning of a chapter brings up a relevant thing from the past and then it's expanded on later in the chapter. It helps to clear up character motivations.

But I don't like whole chapters of flashbacks. Too jarring and I'm almost always more interested in what is going to happen than something that has already happened. Yet, some writers can even pull this off amazingly well.

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

It is possible that the fragments and feedback section, which puts a lot of emphasis on the beginning of the story, has given you a misconception about people and their preferences for flashbacks. But I can only speak for myself, so I will be specific only for me.

I don't love flashbacks, but I think they're ok. I've seen some very well-used and well-timed flashbacks and those I like. As with many things in writing, it depends.

I do, however, actively abhore flashbacks that occur too close to the beginning of a story. I think I knew this all along, but OSC put it into words for me in "How to Write Scifi and fantasy." You see, when a flashback is too close to the beginning of a story you are expecting the reader to care about something in the past when you havent't gained their sympathy for the present, or even grounded them in it. A general rule of thumb I've heard is that a flashback should be twice as far into a story as it's length. So, if you have a one page flashback it should be at least two pages in.

Now I will simply advise caution with flashbacks placed anywhere else. Their overuse makes things confusing and disjointed, particularly when you keep flashing at andom. I hated Pulp Fiction, one of today's most popular movies, in large part because of the disjointed flashing. I couldn't follow it and didn't want to try that hard. (It might have helped if the characters were sympathetic...I would have tried harder...Quintin Tara...never mind, I don't know how to spell it...anyway, that director isn't exactly known for likable heroes.)

I've seen flashbacks in novels that happen every other chapter that work. Setups in which we are in the now and some disaster happened twenty years ago and then the next chapter is told from the same character's POV twenty years ago as the disaster approaches.

Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :

For me, switching time and place and POV character comes with a cost. It may be worth it. I have used flashbacks, but not often. For example, I had survivors of a war in danger, and I started with the danger, and flashed back to the start of the war (which mattered), rather than starting with the war and having a five-year hiatus on page 2.

Posted by Minister (Member # 2213) on :

I really enjoyed Starship Troopers (the book, not the movie!). Probably the bulk of the book consists of flashback. But that book is the exception, not the rule. I'll put up with flashbacks, but only if they strike me as relevant and interesting in their own right.

Posted by Jeraliey (Member # 2147) on :

I only tolerate flashbacks if they mesh with the story, and have a flow to them that works with the narrative.

Posted by emelis (Member # 2349) on :

i wonder if you consider flashbacks and interludes to be the same, annoying wise.

in the novel that i've planned carefully, i have several interludes in which i think that some things are either made more clear or i've (hopefully *crosses fingers*) created a depth to central mysteries.

the only reason why i'm doing this is because the narrative is in first-person. i think that adding interludes... or a break away from the main character and allowing another character to speak... is better than if i left it alone.

i feel the same way about carefully used flashbacks. it can add to the depth of the story, and create heightened anticipation.

i must admit that this is my very first time visiting the board, and i'm starting to feel very nervous. i've written a prologue (which happens to be a flashforward), the book is in first person, and i've created interludes.

i'm going to be the Worst Writer Ever! YES!!

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

quote:
i'm going to be the Worst Writer Ever! YES!!

As long as you simultaneously believe that you are the best writer ever, you've got it made.

[This message has been edited by Christine (edited January 31, 2005).]

Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :

Of course, sometimes I wonder when a flashback is a flashback. Vs a narritive summary of a memory. Perhaps a fine line?

Posted by Lord Darkstorm (Member # 1610) on :

I think flashbacks often fail because of frequency and/or use. When you drop in a sentance that explains a detail or two from the past, is that a flashback? If so, then those are common and used quite often by many authors. The long jumps in story to explain vast ammounts of detail that happened before the story starts...well, it can work, but when they become an info dump it is irritating.

I try to avoid long flashbacks myself, but that is the way I like to write.

Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :

emilis, are you sure you aren't me? i'm writing a novel using that exact same arrangement dang you!

my prologue is a flash forward into a future far beyond the current story, and i have interludes throughout where i break into that same future... of course, there is a very definite reason for it, i am actually writing two stories at once. the historical story (current) and the future story of the descendant of a certain set of protagonist's reactions...

i say that i'm the worst writer in the world for coming up with a story requiring such an arrangement, but i also think that once i pull it off it will make me into one of the worlds best :P

Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :

My general rule for flashbacks is that they are something like a flashback in real life. That's because I prefer 3PLO, and this is the kind of flashback most compatible with 3PLO.

In this type of flashback, the POV character is, in the present moment of the story, thinking back to something that happened in the past of the story. When properly grounded in the present of the story, this type of flashback doesn't interfere with continuity at all, because it consists of the thoughts and memories the POV is experiencing at the moment.

Another good thing about this kind of flashback is that (if you're doing your POV correctly) it occurs for some kind of character reason. The detective picks up a glass from the table, and remembers that on the night before the murder it contained milk rather than orange juice. Okay, goofy example, but the point is that a good flashback follows the rule of all good text, it gives the reader information that the reader wants at that point in the story.

This is the primary reason that flashbacks very early in a story are bad. As Christine has noted, 13 lines into the story, you're still trying to get the reader interested in the present moment of your story, you haven't set up a reason for the reader to want information that could be made available through a flashback. I'm not fond of the rule of thumb mentioned, but if it helps, use it. My rule is that you cannot flashback until the reader wants a flashback, and you must end the flashback before the reader looses interest. I, as the reader, will be the judge of when that is

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

quote:
Main Entry: flash·back
Pronunciation: 'flash-"bak
Function: noun
1 : a recession of flame to an unwanted position (as into a blowpipe)
2 a : interruption of chronological sequence (as in a film or literary work) by interjection of events of earlier occurrence; also : an instance of flashback b : a past incident recurring vividly in the mind

I think the key to a flashback is that it is a vivid recurence, so that one sentence things are bits of exposition, and frankly probably so are one paragraphs. Basically, if you *tell* us about it, it's not a flashback. If you stop the action, step back in time, and *show* it to us, it's a flashback.

Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :

Hmmm... I was thinking of using the first definition of flashback in my storys. That might make it a more interesting read.

Posted by wetwilly (Member # 1818) on :

If you want to see an example of Flashbacks being used very well, pick up a copy of "A Pale View of Hills" by Kazuo Ishiguro. He weaves them in masterfully.

Posted by TaShaJaRo (Member # 2354) on :

I'm curious whether you would consider a letter a flashback? This letter is read by an adult character about twenty pages into the story but it was originally written before he was born.
Thanks.

Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :

No, I would not consider a letter a flashback, even though it may have the same function in certain cases.

Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :

I like little flashbacks, like when someone is yelling at the kids and realises they sound just like their dad. This either makes them stop or get worse. I think that is cool, means the character didn't just flare into existence at chapter One.

I am not sure if they really are flashbacks or not, but those sort of moments peppered through a story really lifts it for me, if (the common caveat) it is done well. They may fall into the 'letter' category mentioned above, but personal moments like these show experience.

(Oh I didn't realise his dad used to yell at him like that.)

Seriously:
When I rub my thumb and first two fingers together, (like I'm feeling fabric or oil on my fingers or something like that) I feel like my Dad; but not when he was happy; when he was mad. Is that sort of thing a flashback?

[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited February 02, 2005).]