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J.T. LeRoy, Sarah
"Where had they all gone to, he often pondered; those threads he had once held together, how far had they scattered, some to break, others to weave into unknown patterns? The strange randomness of the world beguiled him, that randomness which never would, so long as the world lasted, give meaning to those choruses again."
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“We are all like Scheherazade's husband, in that we all like to know what happens next.”
E.M. Forster
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. As promised earlier, our topic this week is flashbacks.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
As promised in the last issue, we are now going to take a look at flashbacks and how to use them effectively for a dramatic storyline.
Flashback --technical term: analepsis-- is a tool for the fiction writer to add depth and interest to a story, and it can be a part of any piece of writing in any genre or type. Flashbacks are important for the drama in the story, because they bring the reader into the life of the characters on an emotional level and let him enter the characters' thoughts, feelings, and expectations.
The main obligation of the flashback is to take the readers back in time but not in an irrelevant way. That time or place in the past has to matter greatly to the storyline and to the present and the future of the characters.
By the same token, the flashback must be essential to the reader’s comprehension of the story. The reader’s comprehension is proportional to the writer’s understanding of his characters and their situations. If a writer has not fully fleshed out his characters in his mind at the beginning of a story, the flashbacks may run the risk of being irrelevant to the story.
Let’s say we have a character named Mike. Mike eats a quart of ice-cream at one sitting and remembers, in flashback, his mother serving him ice-cream. Then Mike goes to his job with the CIA and discovers his best friend is a mole. After a few incidents he proves who the mole is to his bosses. Here, the ice-cream incident and the flashback that come with it have nothing to do with the discovery of the mole, so it shouldn’t be included in Mike’s discovery-of-the-mole story, even if the writer may imagine it helps to bring out the soft side of this character.
One way to bring flashbacks to a story is to give them in total in the beginning as a prologue, an introduction, or an introductory chapter. The advantages of the total flashbacks are:
• Total flashbacks allow the straight telling of the story without stopping the action.
• They give the story a chronological flow.
• During the storytelling, the critical backstory data is already there to give depth to the story.
• Writing the total flashback is easy on the writer. After he is done with the backstory in flashback, he can tell the real story in one breath.
The disadvantage of the total flashback in the beginning of a story is that it could bore the reader with the long past, instead of pulling him into the story’s action and the story’s present time.
Another way to insert flashbacks in a story is to give them in large chunks inside the story. The film industry can use ‘cut-away’s for this; however, in writing straight fiction, large chunks work better in slow-moving stories. If you are telling an action-adventure story or a fast-moving story in any genre, stay away from the large chunks of flashbacks.
In addition, this type of flashback is best used by signaling its beginning and end in some way or possibly writing the flashback in italics. As far as dialogue goes, it is better to summarize it the best you can.
A third way of inserting the flashbacks in the story is the spray or zigzag technique; that is, inserting small pieces of flashback, possibly in one or two sentences wherever they are needed. The advantages of the spray or zigzag technique are:
• You are given flexibility in telling the story, as to how to tell it and how much you will let the reader know.
• You can weave in critical information and background material at any time you wish.
• You can use it to increase suspense or to attract the reader’s curiosity
• You can create layered characters during the writing of the real story.
On the negative side, spray or zigzag technique may cause the reader to confuse the past with the present if not handled well by the writer, because it is the most challenging technique to master.
A few more points to pay attention to while creating flashbacks:
• The contents of the flashback should not be more exciting than the real story.
• A flashback works better if it follows a strong scene.
• Orient the reader at the start of the flashback in time and space. If the transition of the flashback is not adequately written, past and present may become a jumble in the reader’s mind.
• Leave out the least important incidents in the flashbacks and trim down the existing ones.
• As to usage, you may want to make use of the verb tenses to signal a flashback’s beginning and ending. If the story is told in the present tense, the entire flashback can be in the past tense. If the story is told in past tense, the flashback may begin with past perfect to signal the change, then the flashback may continue with the past tense again, in order not to overuse the weighty past perfect. Then the ending of the flashback can be maneuvered into past perfect again before continuing the story with the past tense.
Some caveats concerning flashbacks:
• Do not make the contents of the flashback more interesting or longer than the real story.
• Do not introduce the flashback as the first real scene in the story, unless you are absolutely sure you are a writing giant.
• Flashbacks within flashbacks run the risk of confusing the story and the reader who is reading it. Try not to write them until you feel you are highly experienced, like John Updike, to pull this.
• Too many and too long flashbacks tend to turn a story into an epic. If that is not your intention and you are limited by a word count, try to be conservative with the amount and the size of flashbacks in the story.
• Use flashbacks sparingly and with discretion since they do tend to slow the pacing. Try not to use flashbacks past the three-quarters of the real story.
While we are at it, let’s take a brief look at prolepsis or flash forward, in other words, looking at the future information. This dramatic device is highly used in the horror, supernatural, and sci-fi genres, as in time travel, fortune-telling, or in some way reading into the future as in prophecies or anticipation. Like a flashback, flash forward also needs to be attached to some event or something in the present.
Until next time… 
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Enjoy!
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| |  | Hooked (13+)
sheldon gustavo gets cancer from smoking, this is a flashback about how he got hooked.
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Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback. Now, let's take a look at a tip.
This Issue’s Tip:
 When giving your characters goals, decide from the beginning of a story if your character will have one major goal or a few consecutive goals possibly one leading to another. It is a good idea to stick to one goal if you are writing a short story with a word-count limit or a one-act play.
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JackTiberious
I wasn't sure what to expect from this site, which I just joined half an hour ago. I'm mainly looking for a forum to be prepared for pitfalls from other aspiring writers. However, just browsing the site your newsletter was the first one I saw and immediately I learn something. I've never heard about the term "info-dump" before and it has always been a feature in my writing. Just reading that one paragraph from your article, I am able to take away a very important, easy to retain, idea that will improve my writing. I'm very impressed.
Thank you very much, Jack.
I am glad you found this newsletter and this site helpful. We have many more corners to explore and even newsletter archives under the site navigation in Things to Do & Read, if you are interested.
Welcome to Writing.com.
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SkyHawk - Into The Music
Joy,
I agree that backstory / history is very important to a story. If your character has no backstory, it is a cardboard cutout instead of a compelling person. Not to mention creating the world the story takes place in; lack of backstory hear gives you a much smaller frame to work in.
I'm looking forward to your comments on flashback (I've recently used it several times in a story I'm working but not posted here).
Skyhawk
Thank you very much, Skyhawk. 
There are some thoughts as to totally evading the backstory, but as you pointed out, that could lead to cardboard cutout people. Even when that is done, the writer has to keep in mind that there is a backstory.
Thanks for the feedback.
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Adriana Noir
Thanks for the warm welcome, Joy and the great advice. Backstories can add a lot of depth, but as you said, it is a fine line. Sometimes they want to overshadow, but then we always have the possibility for a prequal if the author keeps things brief. V.C. Andrews has crafted the art of making her readers crave the backstory in full once the series has finished. Great food for thought!
Thanks, Adriana.
Glad you brought up V.C. Andrews. His one book usually becomes the backstory of another book; for example, Web of Dreams being the backstory of Heaven's Mother. Sci-fi and fantasy genres especially need backstories.
Thanks for the input.
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StephBee 
Excellent tip about exposition and great tip. Your example was spot on. My tip: Back stories can be important but don't let them overshadow telling the story you are now. If they do, a writer might want to consider writing that story, too. Only tell as much backstory as you need to so as to push the current story forward.
Thanks, Steph.
That's true. Backstory should not be more interesting than the real action in the story.
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Drama: August 12, 2009 Issue [#3174]
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