Advanced Writing 101 - Structure

[Guest Serenanna]

So, I've pretty much mastered enough writing now to tell a story effectively, maybe not fully, but enough to get my point across. So it's time to move on to, specifically to a challenge I've set myself up for in an upcoming chapter. It involves . . . plot structure.

Up to this point, I've avoided flashbacks like the plague. Usually, I follow a linear path of plot with little divergence. I've intercut scenes before of seperate parties with no problem, but flashbacks? No way. The point I am at in this fic nessessitates it now though to get the point across. Most of the times I've seen them used is with the italicized method of adding an ongoing flashback while in a current scene, which I know I don't like. It's messy and confusing to me for changing the focus too much.

My flashback is two whole seperate scene at occur a few days before the opening scene, where the opening scene breaks for the flashback to explain how they got there. If anything, the way I write is very cinematic, so, it makes more sense to me just to flow right into the flashback, but . . . I want to make the transition seem not so cliche in the whole 'it all started a few days ago . . .' sense but smoother.

So, greater writers, any ideas?

Sere

[WotanAnubis]

I don't usually meddle in the wonderful world of flashbacks, but here's how I would probably do one...

I think I'd either repeat the last line of the scene that came before it if it'd be appropriate, but in italics. Might seem clunky, but there's an instant connection there. Or I'd write the opening line of the flashback in such a way that there can be absolutely no doubt that this scene doesn't connect to the previous one chronologically and then trust the reader's smart enough to figure out what's going on as the scene progresses.

So... I guess I'd either create a totally obvious connection or a totally obvious disconnect.

Hmm.

Maybe this isn't such good advice after all.

[StoryJunkie]

I LOVE flashbacks! You have to know that CSI wouldn't work at all without them!

[foeofthelance]

Honestly, just out and out announce its a flashback. Don't go, "HEY FOLKS, THIS IS A FLASHBACK!" but if you use something like "Jane flashed back to three days ago..." or "John remembered how this had all started..." then it should be rather clear. It's probably harder to do this with a third person narration then a first person narration, but its not all that difficult. Just remember that the reader needs every last things spelled out to them, because if they do try to reach a conclusion it will be the wrong one, unless all the wrong ones have been removed.

Example below.

Jane looked out the window of the jet, and thought back to how she had ended up there. It had all started three days ago...

***

(Fill in Flashback here)

***

She shook her head at the memory. Reminiscing about the past wasn't going to do her any good now...

[macrosschick]

Italics are always good to use for flashbacks or dreams...basically anything that isn't in the "here and now."

Flashbacks can be great devices if used properly. Setting the scene is key. If something jolts a person's memory, you can be fast and clipped. If it is a fond memory, a leisurely pace is best. Or if it is a not so fond memory (and you're feeling ambitious), you can even interject how the flashback is affecting the character in the present.

Flashbacks are a great way to give some background info but remember, over use will just bog your story down. There are other ways to clue the reader in without using flashbacks.

Hope that helps!

[Desiderius Price]

I’ve done both good and bad flashbacks. 

The bad one is why I split up my first original story, because I was using them to cover backstory that was better to split off to other stories (ie, I was confusing myself). 

The good is a quick flash “forward” of a future suspense point (ie Voldemort exclaiming the potion in his cup is the “Elixir of Immortality”) with a “two years earlier….”  as the fast move back in time point. 

Which ever way it’s done, flash-forward or flash-backward, that scene should be kept relatively short.   If it needs to span chapters, then consider a separate backstory, and snippets for the flash back itself.

 

[Wilde_Guess]

Something interesting has percolated up from the past.  Hmm…

The most important thing in my personal opinion when writing a flashback is this:  Never use the actual word “flashback,” unless your protagonist is a psychedelic drug user who is reminiscing or remembering when they were having either more or less “flashbacks” to suffer from.

Otherwise, the length or shortness of a flashback isn’t entirely a fixed quantity, at least in my opinion.  But, like anything else in creative writing for an audience, it does has its place, and its limits.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Wilde_Guess
fix typos

[Desiderius Price]

6 hours ago, Wilde_Guess said:

Something interesting has percolated up from the past.  Hmm…

Felt like digging…

6 hours ago, Wilde_Guess said:

Never use the actual word “flashback,”

Definitely sage advice there!

I tend to keep the flashbacks short, focus on the one thing needed, and usually to show the character dwelling on something.  Because a “flashback” to add in something earlier into the story’s time-frame tends to hint that I failed to simply put it in at the appropriate time.  If I “flashback” to right before the story started...why didn’t I open up with that instead?  (Obviously with fanfic, sometimes you do have to retcon something into canon, so your hands are a bit more tied.)

[Wilde_Guess]

For a character thinking back to an earlier moment in time, those would tend to be short.  If the character is relating an incident that happened to them before the “main” time of the story itself, or relating an incident through their own perspective that did not happen in the “view” of the main story perspective to one or more of the “main” characters, they can be far longer.  When doing this “longer” flashback, you can also “come up for air” in the “present moment” of the story to get reactions from the characters being told or reading the story.  And in some cases, you might need to.

Cheers!

[Desiderius Price]

16 minutes ago, Wilde_Guess said:

For a character thinking back to an earlier moment in time, those would tend to be short.  If the character is relating an incident that happened to them before the “main” time of the story itself, or relating an incident through their own perspective that did not happen in the “view” of the main story perspective to one or more of the “main” characters, they can be far longer.  When doing this “longer” flashback, you can also “come up for air” in the “present moment” of the story to get reactions from the characters being told or reading the story.  And in some cases, you might need to.

Cheers!

My disastrous mistake with flashbacks… In my first original fic I posted here, because it was a huge group of people, I started inserting chapters of flashbacks, one after another, covering how the different characters got there.  Reviewers were getting confused “isn’t he dead?”  Once I realized I had basically had multiple stories in it, I started to peel them off as SEPARATE stories, and it’s way, way better.  Of course, haven’t finished those backstories, still working on them, and plan to get back to the main story… eventually.

For instance, Jefferey is backstory that delves into the subversive underground group trying to counter the strong religious push/indoctrination of the main society.  Alaska Trekkers shows how two join up to the main story.  Dale’s Game is intended for one of those too (though it derailed, so it’s eventual rewrite will fix that).  Once I start clearing out the backstory & rewrites, I do intend to get back to the main story    In the meanwhile, this potter fanfic isn’t going to write itself.

Overall, I minimize flashbacks, as it’s usually a symptom of planning issues.  However, they can have a place. 

[Wilde_Guess]

Hi, Desiderius Price, and all.

1 hour ago, Desiderius Price said:

My disastrous mistake with flashbacks… In my first original fic I posted here, because it was a huge group of people, I started inserting chapters of flashbacks, one after another, covering how the different characters got there.  Reviewers were getting confused “isn’t he dead?”  Once I realized I had basically had multiple stories in it, I started to peel them off as SEPARATE stories, and it’s way, way better.  Of course, haven’t finished those backstories, still working on them, and plan to get back to the main story… eventually.

For instance, Jefferey is backstory that delves into the subversive underground group trying to counter the strong religious push/indoctrination of the main society.  Alaska Trekkers shows how two join up to the main story.  Dale’s Game is intended for one of those too (though it derailed, so it’s eventual rewrite will fix that).  Once I start clearing out the backstory & rewrites, I do intend to get back to the main story    In the meanwhile, this potter fanfic isn’t going to write itself.

Overall, I minimize flashbacks, as it’s usually a symptom of planning issues.  However, they can have a place. 

Yes, there truly is a point where you have to write a separate story to tell the backstory of a character in the “other” story.  Or two different stories actually intersect for a short space.  Those are the “sidecar” equivalents to the prequel and the sequel.  Before Disney destroyed Star Wars, they had an entire cottage industry writing those stories to the three, and later the six core canon stories.  The last three movies were basically stewed pig feces, though there was the occasional gem to float up, but I digress…

Cheers!

[Desiderius Price]

24 minutes ago, Wilde_Guess said:

Hi, Desiderius Price, and all.

Yes, there truly is a point where you have to write a separate story to tell the backstory of a character in the “other” story.  Or two different stories actually intersect for a short space.  Those are the “sidecar” equivalents to the prequel and the sequel.  Before Disney destroyed Star Wars, they had an entire cottage industry writing those stories to the three, and later the six core canon stories.  The last three movies were basically stewed pig feces, though there was the occasional gem to float up, but I digress…

Cheers!

Yep, both agree here.  A sidecar/backstory also does way better justice to the character than “flashback short”.  Take Jeff, briefly mentioned in a flashback, is now a fully fleshed character, and the reader will be rooting for him when he competes in the Olympics (swimming), in what’s likely going to be a multi-installment type of back story.

One thing I fight in my potter story rewrite… I did a lot of retcon before, so it’d be like Hermione going “Yesterday Snape talked to me...”   On this rewrite, I’m changing it to showing that conversation when it happens.   Thus, what had been revealed later to be SeamusFinnigan/LadyAuror relation, is now being shown (added a new character on this rewrite, and his POV is able to witness SeamusFinnigan/LadyAuror banging on the sofa in the Gryffindor Common Room).