How to Write Flashbacks

HelloOoOo everybody!

Today I'm talking about one of the trickiest storytelling devices, and that's flashbacks. A flashback is when the plot of a novel is temporarily halted in order to interject some kind of scene or experience that happened in the past. For example, a character runs into his ex-boyfriend and in turn, remembers their traumatic breakup. Flashbacks are very popular storytelling devices. They're also very controversial because oftentimes they suck.

If you want to make sure your flashbacks don’t suck, I'm here to help! This video is dedicated to one of my patrons over on Patreon, Annie Katz. Like so many others, Annie wants to make sure her flashbacks flow naturally with the story. She wants them to make sense and grab the reader's attention, so that's what I'm talking about today! I'm breaking down my 10 tips for writing flashbacks in three, two, one, go!

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Number 1: Don't

I hate to be a downer, but 90% of the flashbacks I've read during my critiquing days served absolutely no point toward the overall plot. When planning a manuscript, writers tend to figure out complex backstories. We know where the characters have come from and what they've been through and we want to interject that into the story itself. It's just most of the time, the backstory means jack shit. It doesn't make any difference in the plot, and if it does, it's usually simple enough to explain in a sentence or two. So before you indulge yourself, ask yourself–and be honest! “Does this flashback matter?” If the answer is anything but “Yes, the story cannot be told without it,” then delete it.

Number 2: Remember Prologues

Sometimes writers include a flashback early on in the book, oftentimes in the middle of the first chapter, and it puzzles me. You know prologues exist, right? A prologue is a glimpse into the past before the story even begins and it's supposed to serve a role in the overall plot. Thus, if this is the only flashback you got, why not just make it a prologue? You'll be delivering need-to-know information without jarring readers out of the natural flow of the story.

Number 3: Be Consistent

It's really awkward when a story only features one flashback completely out of the blue. So if you're going to do the flashback thing, it needs to be a thing. You have to commit to it. There needs to be a relevant, plot-related reason, or character-related reason that flashbacks are utilized in this plot. And if something is relevant to the plot, it's probably gonna come up more than once. Imagine your flashback is a dragon, and in the middle of the book–whatever genre it is–a dragon randomly floats by. If that dragon shows up one time and for no reason at all, that's gonna be weird as fuck! Commit to the dragons, or move on.

Number 4: Be Sparse

“But Jenna, you just said to make flashbacks a thing.”

That doesn't mean they have to monopolize the story! If your book is packed with flashbacks, that's going to seem less like a creative choice and more like a crutch. You're stuffing the story with as many flashbacks as possible because you're not sure how else to show this need-to-know information, which is a sign of bad writing. Readers are gonna wonder, “Why didn't you just start the plot sooner? Why didn't you enlist multiple timelines or points of view?” There's a very fine line between consistency and beating a dead horse, so if you plan to implement flashbacks into your story, you're gonna have to make sure you don't cross that line. Sorry ’bout it!

Number 5: Look for an Impetus

Outside of mental illness, flashbacks usually don't happen for no reason. A memory is triggered, and that's what brings the flashback to the surface. The impetus can be as simple as the smell of perfume, or as huge as witnessing a car crash. But you as the author need to create the stimulus or else the flashback is going to feel shoehorned in. Even if the flashbacks are related to a mental illness, it's still possible to write some kind of impetus into your story.

For example, my clinical anxiety makes me relive embarrassing or frustrating moments in my life. And while it may seem like it's happening at random, there is a trigger: my anxiety. Thus, if we were writing a story about my life, you could show this by describing the fidgeting of their hands, the tightness in their chest, and the racing of their thoughts. The reader then knows that they're feeling anxious, which precipitates their flashbacks.

Number 6: Make It Quick

No one likes long flashbacks. That's it. A paragraph or two, maybe a couple of pages, but once you pass that threshold you are really pushing it.

Number 7: Make It Powerful

As we already covered, flashbacks are jarring. You are pulling readers out of the natural timeline of the story, so if you're gonna do this, it needs to pay off. That flashback better pack a punch! This doesn't mean it needs to be a memory of a gunfight or an explosion. Oftentimes, the power in a flashback is in the emotion. The scene is evocative. It's sad, or angry, or hopeful. Maybe the scene provides clarity or brings the reader closer to the character. Now they know why the MC is terrified of water. She almost drowned. Make the flashback meaningful, so it feels valuable to the story at hand.

Number 8: Avoid Platitudes

“I remember it like it was yesterday.”

“My mind flashed back in time to when I was a mere boy.”

If your flashback begins with a line like this, ya done fucked up. These lines are cliche. They've been done to death, and the reader is just gonna feel embarrassed for you.

Number 9: Clarity Is Your Friend

Just ’cause we're avoiding cliches doesn't mean we gotta be vague. Have you ever read a book where the flashbacks were unclear? You spend so much time trying to differentiate between the past and the present that the book stops being fun and just starts being a chore. You can make the flashback clear without stating, “He flashed back to another time.” Sometimes writers use scene breaks. Other times, they write their flashbacks in italics. And of course, there needs to be some kind of transition that prepares the writer for the shift in the timeline. This will make your flashback easier to follow, which will translate into a more enjoyable reading experience.

Number 10: Explore Your Options

Did I mention that nine times out of ten, you don't need a flashback? I think I did. Just because you're delivering information about the past does not mean you need a flashback. There are other ways to deliver the same information that may be a better fit for your book. I already mentioned prologues, but there's also dialogue. People talk about their past when it's relevant. If you're writing sci-fi or fantasy, sometimes magic or time travel can be utilized to convey information from another timeline. While exposition should be used in small quantities, it is still an option–in small quantities. Letters, journals, photo albums. The options are endless, so make sure you're utilizing the right one for your story.

So that's all I've got for you today!

A huge thank you to Annie for requesting this topic! If you'd like the chance to have a video dedicated to you, or if you want access to tons of other awards, check me out on Patreon! We have an exclusive writing group, we've got early access to videos, we've got livestreams, we've got signed merch! The information is linked here, check it out!