Flashbacks. Yay or Nay?

All Things Writing
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What’s you opinion on flashbacks?

When I first wrote Soul Survivor, it began with a childhood flashback scene. It was relevant because it was the first time protagonist learned that he saw things others didn’t.

I also wrote another flashback scene that shows him going to the first psychiatrist session. This one was also relevant as it showed his motivation - he didn’t want anyone to think he was crazy.

There’s a lot of advice out there saying to not start a story with a flashback, that it’s bad, etc… When I revised this book, I took both flashbacks out and instead just added a very vague reference to them within the story (basically, a couple of sentences each). I’ve been keeping them as bonus reading that can be found online by readers who liked the book and want to read more. I made peace with this cut.

As now I’m getting ready to publish this book in print at last, I’m doing final line edits, and I’m wondering yet again if I should add the flashback scenes back.

PROS:

In the end, I think they’re good scenes. They’re not very long, about 1000 words each and I think they add to the story because they help the reader understand the protagonist, why he is the way he is, etc.

Also, this is a short novel (about 55k) so more words is a plus, not a minus.

I could just add them as bonus reading at the end, but I’m tempted to insert them within the book. The first flashback would work well as the second chapter. I briefly mention the events from this flashback in the first chapter, and then the second chapter would give the reader the full account of what really happened.

The second flashback, I’m not sure yet where it would fit the best. I’m torn if I want to add it in the begging or later. Events of it happen soon after the events in the first flashback so it would make sense to put it soon after, but I don’t want to slow down the beginning.

Maybe after the chapter with two body bags. It’s the first time in the story that something is not right (actually, not, but all earlier clues are very subtle) and possibly the first time that readers have a chance to start guessing what’s going on. I’m not sure, I’ll have to experiment with that idea.

Or, another possibility, I would stitch the two flashbacks into one chapter. That could actually work very well.

I also think that flashbacks would fit with the experience of the book. There are already a couple of dream sequences, excessive personification of nature, and skewed reality told by an unreliable narrator. Flashbacks are really quite “mild” of a divergence from normal storytelling in comparison.

CONS:

The biggest con I foresee is in putting the flashbacks as chapter 2. It fits there, but the beginning is already a bit slow. I guess I fear that readers would get impatient.
On the other hand, this book is a bit literary so I guess I’m hoping that readers will accept it as a normal convention of this style.

As to flashback hate, I don’t know, is it bad? Some bestselling books are riddled with them. This book would have so few of them, is it really a reason to DNF?

TLDR:

I want to add two flashback scenes within my book. Should I?

Do you like flashback scenes when you read?

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Have you ever read a novel that was a single flashback?
The whole story is nothing but a flashback.

Just curious.

Flashbacks are one of those tricky things that I know I am going to struggle doing when the time comes. I don’t know how to transition a scene into a flashback without making it feel off. Plus, I don’t experiment with writing flashbacks often. Another point is that, I normally read or watch flashbacks done in manga/webcomic or anime.

Sorry if I don’t make sense.

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lol. I never thought about that, but yes, it’s written in the past tense so the whole book is a flashback.

That is tricky. It’s difficult to do it within the same chapter. The only times I usually do that is the not-really-a-flashback because basically the pov character is thinking about their past.
The real flashbacks I usually put in a separate chapter exactly for the reason you mention - it feels off, it breaks immersion. That’s what chapters are for - to help the reader break the story up so they can digest it better.

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I should’ve done that with one of my other stories I’ve written. I didn’t think about it at the time. It made the chapter far too long and wonky for my liking, even if it was a rough draft.

True, true! LOL!

I did one where the character is speaking about the past along with a character thinking about the past too.

I wished I thought like that with Project Succession or even Project Naivin. I hope I do that with Red Reign/Project Glorious.

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I’ve never heard that you shouldn’t start books with flashbacks. After all, most prologues are flashbacks, eh? I hate prologues, but have no problem with flashbacks as long as they’re done right. Like, don’t put them in italics or any formatting that’s annoying to read if the flashback’s a long one. Done right, they can really enrich a story. (*＾-‘) 乃

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I hope most readers feel the same way.

I think the advice against beginning the story with them is because the story should start NOW, not in the past. If it starts with my MC as a child, it kinda sets the expectation that it’s a story about a child.

I don’t know. Prologues are perfect for them but so many people skip them, I try to not utilize them unless it’s necessary.

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If your reader is anything like my brother, they will skip them.

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Now I’m curious why your mind went to your brother. :joy:

What about you? Do you also skip them or do you give them a chance?

In the case of this book, it won’t be a huge deal if a reader decides to skip, they should still be able to understand the story. I hope they won’t feel the need to but in the end, we can’t control what the readers do.

I know one person who always flips to the end of the book, to read the last page first. :woman_shrugging:

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He dropped One Piece over it.

I don’t mind but I am one person.

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He dropped One Piece because of the flashbacks? You sure there was nothing else?

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Yeah. LENGTH. He watched all of Hajime no Ippo but refuses to read the manga for that reason. IT IS LONGER RUNNING THAN ONE PIECE.

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Yeah, I know.
Yet I’m going strong.

:sweat_smile:

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I’ve only seen the Netflix version, and there, it wasn’t bad. I found it funny though how every flashback was exactly 7 years ago.

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That only covers one part if a much larger story.

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I figured they couldn’t fit 1000 episodes into one season. :joy:

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Can you imagine? :sweat_smile:

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Flashbacks are good when they serve a purpose. I use flashbacks in my books (e.g., Amneris’ increase in power, Aurelia’s reason for revenge, the Rebel escape from the Mines, Lydia and the fall of Atlantis) as a way to add context.

But, at the same time, you don’t want to have too many. I’ve seen books where like 5 chapters are flashback and you get to the point of “omg get on with the story already”.

So, yeah, like with anything else in writing, balance is important. And there are plenty of books that don’t actually need flashbacks so you can tell a story just fine without them

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I agree. One book that comes to mind is My Sister’s Keeper. There were a lot of flashbacks in there. I didn’t mind them since they helped tell the story and explain how the characters got where they did.

I started minding them at the later part of the story. They seemed unnecessary, like extra fluff. I just wanted to know how the “now” story concluded. I didn’t need any more background.

So perhaps that’s the key: don’t put flashbacks at the end. At that point, all background information should have been revealed already.

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Unless it’s intentionally done for cliffhanger or next book reasons, of course

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Big fan :joy: If it adds to the plot/characters, I much prefer a flashback scene than a long dialogue or description passage where the character recounts those relevant bits of their backstory. My early writing efforts all featured non-linear storytelling which was pretty much half flashbacks flitting in and out of the present.

Not sure if chapter 2 is a good or bad place for it tbf. I wouldn’t necessarily drop a book because of flashbacks in chapter 2 if I already made it all the way through chapter 1. If you only have the two flashback scenes, I think it makes sense to have them as their own chapter.

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