How to effectively incorporate flashback scenes into your manuscript

Flashback scenes garner a mixed response from critics because they can be difficult to write and even more challenging to know where to place. However, a well-written flashback can enhance the reader’s understanding of the character, their motivations, and what’s at stake.

Below are a few tips, tricks, and examples, to help you write an effective and engaging flashback.

Does the flashback move the story forward?

All scenes need to move the story forward in one way or another. If you think of each scene as a stepping stone, each scene should lead to the next. While the expression ‘moving the story forward’ is rather vague, essentially it means every scene should lead to a change in the character or to the plot. Change can mean personal growth, new information, a reaction, a new goal, a revelation, insight into character motivation, a new plot direction, and more.

Flashback scenes need to advance the plot by providing information that helps readers understand a character, relationship, or the overall story on a deeper level.

A good example of an effective flashback comes from the book The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. A horrific assault transpires, affecting the protagonist, his sister, and his mother. As readers travel back in time and witness the brutality, they understand the immense suffering they experienced. The reader can sympathize with how each character chose different coping mechanisms to survive, and how the collective trauma shaped all three lives in various ways.

This single flashback allows readers to understand the relationship between each character, their struggles, and the “why” behind their pain.

While not all books will benefit from a flashback as intense as the one in The Prince of Tides, the example demonstrates how crucial a flashback can be if it’s used effectively and placed in the correct order of scenes. This flashback moved the story along by giving readers insight into the character’s challenges and by showing how their past affects their present motivations, desires, and goals.

Flashbacks inherently affect pacing; choose placement wisely

Flashbacks, no matter how wonderful they are, slow the pace of the story. When your main story occurs in one place and time, and a flashback takes you to the past, the current story is essentially paused.

While slower pacing may be reason enough for some authors to avoid using flashbacks, every story can benefit from slower-paced moments. Slowing the tempo allows the readers to take a metaphorical breath and absorb new information that offers a deeper understanding of the story or character.

Even high-tempo adventures need places where readers can slow down and engage with the story in a different, more intimate manner. Placed correctly, a flashback can provide an intentional break for readers after an intensely dramatic moment or action scene.

If flashbacks are used too many times within a story, it can slow the pace so significantly that readers will skim over them to get back to the main plot. In this case, it’s advisable to cut the number of flashbacks and consider how to incorporate necessary information in a different manner.

Show, don’t tell

Flashbacks occur in the past but they unfold in a way that readers feel as if they are at the event, watching everything as if it were happening presently. Therefore, it’s essential to show, not tell, what’s happening so the readers are a part of the action. Simply exposing something that happened a long time ago is not an effective flashback. However, a flashback with dialogue, emotion, and action will draw readers in, making them want to know more.

When entering a flashback scene, it’s crucial to orient the reader to the time, place, and location of the event. Readers need to feel fully immersed in the scene for the flashback to be effective. The goal is to create an emotional response from the flashback that can’t otherwise be produced in dialogue or upon reflection.

For example, readers who learn that a character has been cheated on through a simple relay of information will likely understand why the character has trust issues and may be hesitant to fall in love, but what readers may not get is a sympathetic connection with that character.

On the other hand, if the author uses a flashback to show this man carrying a stack of his wedding invitations to his fiance’s office and when he arrives, he unexpectedly discovers his best man and fiancé having sex, the reader is now a close witness to the character’s pain. Using a flashback to deliver this information, readers develop a deeper understanding of his betrayal, a stronger connection to the character, and sympathy for the character’s reluctance to give love another chance.

Keep it simple

What is the main point that you want your readers to know or understand? With The Prince of Tides, Conroy wanted readers to witness the trauma firsthand so they would understand what they suffered, what they survived, and how it affected their lives in the present.

In the example about the affair, the point would be to show how hurt, humiliated, and betrayed the man was to find his best friend and his fiancé together, and how this would impact his present day choices.

Whatever your point is, make sure it’s clear. The best flashbacks are concise. If your flashback scene is extraordinarily long, like a combat scene, it’s best to break it up in chunks by returning to the present time.

For example, in The Prince of Tides, the character introduces his flashback during a therapy session, and the therapist’s reaction and comforting touch are moments that break up the flashback and bring the reader back to the present time.

Putting it all together

Transitioning into a flashback scene requires a delicate balance between alerting the readers that a flashback is occurring while at the same time trying to make the transition seamless.

The first step in creating a seamless transition is to give the character a plausible trigger that would prompt her to reflect on her past. It could be a song, a cologne, a family recipe, whatever it is, it acts as a trigger to remembering the event.

Secondly, after the character has been triggered, and they are thinking about the past, the tense changes to the ‘past perfect tense.’ The best way to indicate this tense is to use the word ‘had’. For example, “it had been a dark and stormy night, and I hadn’t eaten in days.”

Thirdly, the readers need to be anchored in time and place in the flashback. “It had been an unusually hot spring in North Carolina, making the end of my senior year more uncomfortable than it needed to be.”

Once the readers have been oriented, it’s time for the flashback to play out as if it were happening now. While the tense will change from past perfect to simple past tense, showing the action (not telling), will help readers feel fully immersed.

When the flashback has ended, it’s time to return to the present. For example, “Sara hugged me as I cried, too shaken up after sharing all that had happened.”

The culmination of the flashback should result in some takeaway. This could be a revelation, a better understanding of character motivations, or a realization of what’s at stake.

Conclusion

Flashbacks can be a practical element to include in your story if they are compelling, placed correctly, and used judiciously. Always keep in mind what you hope to achieve and if the flashback is the best tool to achieve it. There’s nothing like a good flashback scene, and if you use these tips and tricks, I guarantee your next flashback will be a success.