Flashback the Flashbacks

The book started with an attention grabbing first paragraph and continued showing the reader what happened and how. The writer brought me into the story and held me captured. Then suddenly I was confused, lost, and wondering what I had missed. The author used a flashback without warning, transition, or notice. He continued to commit the same error throughout the book: disrupting the unity, the flow of the story. If flashbacks used incorrectly in a novel can disrupt the unity, the flow, the focus of the story, just image what incorrectly used flashbacks can do to a short story. Flashbacks can be effective in novels, when used correctly, but long flashbacks aren't recommended in short fiction and, if used, should be used carefully. Perhaps we should discuss flashbacks first. These are brief scenes of past occurrences, before the main action of the story, that are inserted to explain motivations, character histories, background influences or information that cannot told during the chronological sequence of a story. Edgar Allen Poe believed the unity of focus in a short story was paramount. Flashbacks interrupt the unity of a story. Therefore, if one is absolutely needed, it should be short and with smooth transitions. In novels, prologues can be used to "set the stage" with information that won't fit into the story line but which is needed for the reader to understand certain elements of the book. Short stories don't have that option. However, according to Nancy Kress, in "...And My Whole Life Flashed Before My Eyes..." Writers' Digest, October 2000, The advantages of flashbacks can be maximized by following a few guidelines: 1. Flashbacks should follow a strong scene. They should never be the first scene or even a second scene after an introductory scene. The flashback should also show, not tell. It needs to be a vivid action scene in active voice. Dialogue is a good tool to use in flashbacks. 2. Smooth, clear transitions are a must. Readers should never have to stop and decide where a flashback begins or ends. Letting the reader know who, what, and when helps keep him or her from becoming lost. 3. Using verb tenses wisely helps the transition of a flashback. If the story is written in present tense, then a flashback should be in past tense. If the story is written in past tense, then starting the flashback in past perfect tense, then moving into simple past tense, then finishing the last few verbs in past perfect will give verbal signals to the reader. 4. Avoid jumping from one flashback into another. In fact, more than one flashback in a short story may be too much. The most effective flashbacks have a catalyst such as a song, place, person, an aroma, a sight, a sound, or an event that causes a memory for a character. The flashback needs to be integrated into the plot while adding to an issue or character. The flashback must be related to the present action. Remember that since flashbacks stop the story, use them rarely and then with smooth transition. The plot, characters, and conflict should be thoroughly introduced before using a flashback. Be brief. Illustrate the information before quickly returning to the story. Certain places in a story should never include a flashback: never in the middle of an emotional or eventful action; never in climatic scenes. Also don't use flashbacks to characterize and replace dramatic scenes. A final note, an emphasis actually, remember to use smooth, clear transitions and use flashbacks only when absolutely necessary. As James V. Smith wrote: "When you reach a moment of truth in such a story, you realize that that literary instant results from a confluence of a hundred facts and circumstances you've read earlier in the story. Every iota is a related, orderly part of a whole that cannot be taken out without damaging the overall structure. When you read a work that gives you this feeling, you know it was written by a master of transition." Sources: 1.