Cover Me, I'm Going Back: Writing Flashbacks

We spend a lot of time building the histories of our characters so it's no wonder we want to get some of that into the story. Flashbacks are one way that info can appear in the book. When the protag's past has bearing on the current plot, it might feel like a good spot to stop and explain (or show) what happened in that past so the reader really "gets" the current scene. It might be a big, drawn out flashback, or a snippet of memory. But just like back story, it's not always needed.

Like so many things in writing, there's nothing wrong with flashbacks if they're done well and are necessary for the story. But they're also one of the places you can cut when needing to trim words or tighten the prose.

I suppose technically, any time you say, "he remembered when..." or anything similar, you're flashing back, so the first step is to identify a flashback. Most people think of flashbacks as long scenes, but they can be short.


Sometimes flashbacks masquerade as back story.

Bob remembered the day he first met Jane. She was so sweet, standing there by the copier with toner spilled all around her and this cute "oops" look on her face.

Sometimes they're entire chapters written out in dramatic form like the rest of the book.

Bob remembered that day so fondly.

They were all in the conference room, waiting for Jones to get there and start the meeting. A woman squealed and everyone in the office stopped and looked. Bob turned, curious himself.

The new girl, Jane, was by the copier, standing in a sea of black toner. On her feet, her floral skirt, a few speckles across her nose. Or were those freckles? He couldn't tell from there.

Next, identify if you actually need that flashback. Sometimes you write them because you need to know what happened, but once you do, you can easily get the key information into the story without the flashback. You don't need the entire scene for the reader to understand what's important.

Good flashbacks:

1. Are about things the reader wants to know about.
If you've teased them with this for a while, and they're dying to know what happened, a longer flashback will likely hold their interest. In The Shifter, my protag Nya has memories of her life before the war, and what happened to her in that war. Small lines here and there, casual mentions of things that affect her deeply, but I never went into it that much. But after a while, folks really wanted to know that history. I waited until book three (Darkfall) to finally spill all the beans.

2. Have to be relevant. 
This information needs to advance the plot in some way and reveal something important that moves that story forward. This can also be something relevant to the character's development. Nya has a lot of little flashbacks where a memory that had no meaning for her as a child suddenly has relevance to the plot as she puts the piece of her childhood together.

If your flashback doesn't do these two things, there's a good chance you can cut it and insert the information another way. Or shorten it considerably to a quick paragraph or a few lines.

If they're long flashbacks, they also need have all the same drive as a regular scene. You don't want it to just be exposition or back story, as that will stop the story cold and force the reader to read something that might not care about. But if the flashback has it's own drive, it's own hook same as a regular scene, then it's more interesting. Let the protag work toward something so the reader wants to see what happens next.

Shorter is usually better since you essentially stop the story to go into a flashback, and any time you stop the story you risk losing the reader. This isn't always true though, and some stories have worked well with extended flashbacks, especially if the point of the story is to expose some bigger mystery. This is tricky to do though, so if you're writing one of these stories, make sure the flashback portion is just as compelling as your main narrative. It has to be more than just, "this is how it all really happened" or the like.

Also, resist the urge to use a flashback to explain how your character got there/was affected by/shaped by this event. Explanation rarely holds a reader's interest, especially if it's long. It should be a revelation, not an explanation. Subtle difference, but it changes how a reader absorbs the info. If they feel like they're figuring or finding something out, they'll read on. If they feel like they're being told what's important, they might start to skim just to get the key plot details. Dramatize your longer flashbacks, make them interesting and important. As soon as you start to feel that explanation coming on, stop yourself and see how you can show it instead.

Sometimes you need to explain a little and that's okay. My rule of thumb: keep it in the character's voice and make it read naturally to whatever is going on. Make sure there's a reason for them to be thinking it. If the explanation does more than just explain something, (like it shows something about the character, describes the setting, and ups the tension a little) that's even better and readers will read right by without it jumping out at them.

Flashbacks can be a very effective tool when used well, and they can actually help you eliminate back story. A few lines of memory can often dramatize a past fact a lot better than exposition, and help you characterize to boot. What a character remembers and how they feel about it does more than just explain the info.

How do you feel abut flashbacks? Like them? Hate them? Do you use them or avoid them in your own writing?