I’m going to keep it simple
tonight, if that’s okay. Jumping right in, F is for FLASHBACK.
A few years ago I entered a contest.
The story was set one-hundred years in the future which required the
use of flashbacks to narrate the story.
Through practice and reading I have discovered several ways to write an effective flashback.
The first is to utilize a physical element to “cue” the
flashback. In my contest entry ANNIVERSARY, I
opened the story with the couple returning to the house they’d occupied when
they were first married a hundred years prior. I utilized the wafting dirt of the tarp-covered furniture to distinguish the present from the flashback.
I
walked over to the staircase, resting my hand on the banister, leaving the
imprint of my palm in the dust. In the distance I heard several cars pull into
the driveway followed by the remote hum of familiar voices.
“I’ll
be upstairs,” I said in a tone no louder than that used in casual conversation.
As the heroine walks through the rooms, the dust clears, transporting her back to the time they first lived in the house.
Another prominent method used to cite a flashback is the use of italics; the
visual change in font acting as a mark in the shift of time.
Entire scenes can be written this way and still play into the
progression of your story.
In
addition to the physical cues or font emphasis, you can use speech and language
to help transition the reader as well.
This works especially well if your story bridges from the distant past to the modern present. Say for example that
your flashback takes place in the Elizabethan Era. Old-English phrases and dialogue would reinforce
that the story has moved into another place and time.
One
last technique that works well is a strategic change in
tense. To cite a mainstream example, in Suzanne Collins’ THE HUNGER GAMES the entire story is written in present tense,
first person narrative (i.e. I see, I walk etc.).
When engaging in a flashback the author shifts the tense from present to
past (i.e. I saw, I’d walked), signifying that the events being recalled had already
occurred. This is a cool way to put a slant on the past, underscoring it as a flashback.
I hope these tips are helpful and stay
tuned for more letters! Tomorrow G is
for GENRE.
Goodnight!
