I often hear that flashbacks in fiction are always bad. Is that true? If not, then how do you know if the flashback in your novel is working? And what do you do if it isn’t?
Caroline posted this question on my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page:
I am writing in first person and having difficulty with inserting back story. Currently my dilemma is with flashbacks. To use or not to use them, and if so how much is too much, or when is the best use of them? Frequently when I resort to a narrative in a flashbacks place I think what I have written is boring and stiff. What is your take on the flashback?
Randy sez: A flashback has one thing going for it and one thing going against it.
What’s good about a flashback is that it’s written in “immediate scene”–meaning that it’s shown happening right here, right now, minute by minute, without summary. That’s the most compelling kind of fiction (although if your novel is 100% immediate scene, something is probably wrong).
What’s bad about a flashback is that it’s yesterday’s news. Or last year’s news. In extreme cases, it can be last millennium’s news. It’s backstory. Flashback is a compelling way to show backstory, but it’s still backstory.
If you’re going to use a flashback, a generally good rule of thumb is to wait until the reader absolutely, positively MUST know the information contained in the flashback. Then show as little of the flashback as possible. Then return to the main story.
No reader on the planet ever said, “Wow, I’m going to buy this book because I’m dying to hear what happened before it takes place!”
Nope. Readers buy a book because they’re dying to hear what happens DURING THE MAIN STORY.
Backstory is a necessary part of any story. Strong backstory makes a strong story. But in writing fiction, practice the fine art of withholding information. That creates mystery. It creates suspense. It keeps your reader reading.
Can you hold off on showing any flashbacks until at least 25% of the way into your story? If not, then maybe the real story isn’t your story. Maybe your real story is the backstory and you should have started sooner.
Can you hold off on showing any flashbacks until you’re 75% of the way into your story? If so, you might have a real killer of a story. Remember, as long as you’ve got a secret, your reader wants to know it. Once you’ve told the secret, your reader no longer wants to know it.
Delay, delay, delay on that pesky backstory, whether it’s a flashback or any other kind.
If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer in public on this blog, hop on over to my “Ask A Question For My Blog” page and submit your question. I’ll answer them in the order they come in.
Blog of the Day: Barry Eisler recently turned down a two-book deal for half a million dollars with a major publisher in order to self-publish in e-book format. Is Barry crazy? Not hardly. Read a mammoth 13,000 word dialogue between Barry and his buddy Joe Konrath on e-books, legacy publishing, agents, self-publishing, and money on Joe’s blog, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing.
Randy's Personal Site
I’m currently re-reading Love in the Time of Cholera and planning on designing my second novel on this structure where a huge part of the book tells us what happened in the past and it works brilliantly. I would love to hear Randy’s comments on this.
Great points, Randy. I finished writing a flashback not long ago for my novel, and now I’m rethinking it. I like it, and it sets up what will come up later in the book (the flashback doesn’t contain a “secret” but it is more of a character/plot set-up device).
But I’ve already been struggling, trying to decide if it’s necessary to the story. I’m torn with that, so perhaps I’ll leave it in until I get feedback from some readers.
In any case, I wanted to add that many writers have a tendency to approach flashback scenes as expository, explanatory passages (I know that’s my natural instinct). “The main character did this because back when he was ten, he had a bad dream…” kind of thing. I think that to answer the question “What Makes a Flashback Sizzle?” it’s important to underline the “show, don’t tell” rule because this is where it can get forgotten.
~Graham
Half a million? Yikes! He’s got guts & faith. Wow. Will definitely have to read that post!
Being wary of flashbacks is excellent advice. Flashbacks are much beloved by new writers. To zip back in time is something we can’t do in real life, but in a novel we aren’t constrained by the inexorable clock and calendar, so back in time we go for a nifty flashback. Flashbacks are used by new writers often for no other reason than they can.
But they shouldn’t, for the same reason that back-story should be minimal: flashbacks slow the story—actually, flashbacks entirely stop the story—and usually they are much more interesting to the writer than the reader. Readers mostly want to know what will happen, not what has happened. They want to look forward, not backward.
What about a story structure depending on flashbacks? I mean something like a man remembering episodes of his life.
The main story would be (for example) some kind of voyage to the final confrontation with his nemesis. This confrontation would take up the last part of the story, the rest of the voyage would be the framework for the flashbacks, showing previous conflicts with the enemy.
This structure would allow to show a life long antagonism between the hero and his antagonist, where you can skip long periods of time in an easy way.
Could this kind of structure work?
In The Neverending Story, Sebastian is reading from a book during the entire story. The author solved this cleverly with 2 different fonts and a slightly different style, as if the book inside the book is written by a different author. The book Sebastian is reading was written a long time ago, and the whole thing reads as a constant back-and-forth between the present and flashbacks (the book). It works amazingly well. Though not technically the same as flashbacks, it shows that a story built around recounting things from the past can work.
I would like to know your take on what the difference is between flashbacks and writing a story with multiple timelines. The timelines could even be blurred, as in you don’t know exactly when or where it happened. I’ve read stories where there are more than one level of this, and it works. I’m riveted. I’m guessing having the reader trust you enough to go along with the ‘timeline is not important’ take is very hard indeed.
@Christophe: I don’t think The Neverending Story really counts as flashbacks though since it is revealed that the book he’s reading is actually taking place as he reads it, and that Sebastian can actually influence what takes place in Fantastica (Fantasia, if you prefer the film version). So more like a case of intertwined storylines that meet up, imho.
This is great advice, I was planning on putting a flashback the novel I am writing, but now I think a little extra mystery would add to the excitement of the story.
Thanks for all the great tips and advice! They are so helpful to me!
Erin
Many supposed “rules” for writing exist, but those rules work until they don’t. I can find many examples of great authors who broke the “rules” and did a fantastic job of it. In the end the only rule that really exists is it a good read, which is vague, I know, but great writers develop an instinct for how to break the rules and make it work, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez for Love in the Time of Cholera or One Hundred Years of Solitude. Prologues are a good example of something agents hate, because most writers use them badly but which masters use well. The beginning of Tale of Two Cities is a prologue but so poetic, who cares? So break the rules! But be wary that it takes a lot of work to get it right and make it work. Poor flashbacks can drag a story down, but in the end, that’s the standard you should judge it by. Read it back to yourself. Just some thoughts.