  Mystery
This week: Flashbacks Edited by: Gaby ~ Finding my way back  
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Flashbacks
When is it the right time to use a flashback in your story?
How many are too many?
How do you go about it?
There are many stories, books, etc. which start in the present just to toss the reader back into the character's past. It's the how and when that matters most of the time. If your written piece is set in the past and you throw in a flashback as telling, you may complicate things for both you and the reader.
If I told you about something from my past, which includes a flashback moment in that telling, are you really listening? How many flashbacks can you follow without getting lost? Or even being bored?
We've all had those moments where we write in the present and then think of a moment that would matter to the story, so we just throw it in there, not realizing what we're actually doing. You break the flow, would be one thing. You may also slow it down, bore the reader, or even confuse him/her. Stay on track.
The best way to introduce flashbacks into your writing is to start a new chapter, a new part in the story to make it clear. The opposite would be to let your character recite the story. It turns it into telling, which lacks action.
'As if it were unfolding right in front of her eyes'
It may work for you if you just go on and tell what she sees, but wouldn't it be so much better to let your reader be smack in the middle of the story?
I'm not a fan of movies which start with the ending and then the rest of it is just a long flashback of things so we know what actually happened to get there. I give it a chance, but more often than not, I don't like knowing.
Mystery, especially crime, starts with a murder/death and moves backward in order to find the why and how. Of course, that depends on who the main character actually is. Detectives work their way back to find the truth, but if your character isn't a detective or some such they may not necessarily follow the same path.
Next time you write a scene which includes a flashback, think about how important it is and whether or not it's presented in the right way. Don't tell about it, show it. Let the reader be part of it. No one ever likes to sit on the sidelines. Those who read want to do more than just relate to the character. They want to be the character. Well, most of the time. Not everyone wants to be a serial killer. 
~ Gaby  |
| |  | Amsterdam (E)
I've recently been having flashbacks of Amsterdam, although this poem is fictional.
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Comments received for my last Mystery NL:
BIG BAD WOLF Happy July 4th!  wrote:
"Monster Justice"
There are plenty of mysteries.
There sure are.
DB Cooper wrote:
WOW!!!!! This reminds of the movie "Deadly Whispers" starring Tony Danza.
Can't say I saw it, but I just might have to do so now.
Quick-Quill  wrote:
Immediately I thought of Shutter Island. I loved the twist. I love the way Dennis Lehane thought up the basic plot. What if? a physco was given one last change at redemption. This movie (I haven't read the book yet) had all the perfect elements. A great story line that had you sympathising with the character, rooting for him, then you were whipped at a right angle and everything you thought was right and good, was not. What were the stakes? They were high and included everyone on the island. I love the ending of the movie. Some parts are just too scary to watch. I need to read the book.
The title sounds familiar but I can't recall the movie. I'll have to look it up and perhaps even read the book. Thanks!
Arakun the Twisted Raccoon  wrote:
Great topic! To write a good mystery, you have to set up illusions without lying to the reader.
Thanks!  There's nothing better than gently being lied to and led in the wrong direction by the writer, just to have it all fall into place in the end.
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Mystery: April 02, 2014 Issue [#6242]
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