Craft 6: On Flashbacks and Time Jumps

[harmony_bites]

Stephen King says the three elements of story are: description, dialogue, but first and foremost, narration that--"moves the story from point A to point B and finally to point Z"--he distinguishes this from plot. The problem I see most often with fanficcers in handling this is "walking to the problem" (see below) and ways of handling flashback.

Comments

[clare009]

This was an interesting exercise and not one I'd given much thought to. I don't usually put in flashbacks, but I do have one in the story I'm currenly working on - so it was good to look at it and ask if it is strictly nessecary. I think, in context, it is. :)

[harmony_bites]

Love your icon;-) Yeah, often the hardest call of all is asking if you need do it in the first place. I really do often enjoy it in stories when done well though--I think people just need to be aware of the downsides and how to do them well.

[wolf_moonshadow]

Once again, you've nailed one of my bigger problems. All hail Professor Harmony! I am awful at limiting a scene to just what is interesting and what flows.

Normally I don't write flashbacks, except as a quick memory, but I agree, some flashbacks are dreadful. As a reader I'm often left wanting to scream, "just get on with it."

Thanks again for the informative informal information.

[harmony_bites]

I am awful at limiting a scene to just what is interesting and what flows.

That's something I constantly struggle with myself--not just what to put in, but how to make transitions in a way that it flows.

Normally I don't write flashbacks, except as a quick memory, but I agree, some flashbacks are dreadful.

I did them in Trek--I was very fond of the "frame" (explained in the Trek article--its were you establish a present time and place, have one character tell their story, then return to the present time and place of the first scene for your last scene. But yes, the danger is that it can either be static--interrupting your story, or melodramatic and cheesy as King warns. Or just be clumsily done as by saying "flashback" or many paragraphs of italics jarring you right out of the story.

[darth_luna]

Another amazing writing lesson. I'm cracking up, though, because I came from Highlander fandom, where the flashback was a built-in staple of every single show, replete with a screen convention of zooming in on either Duncan's eyes or an object in the present-day scene that would reappear in the FB scene, then zooming out, and a whoosh sound effect. The fanfic struggled with all sorts of ways to transition back and forth between present and past like the show. Sometimes it was nightmarish and hamhanded. But sometimes it was also quite cool. I tend to fall for characters with loads of messy backstory.

Sort of like Snape (wink)...

[harmony_bites]

LOL. One of my fav Trek writers migrated to Highlander--she even sent me a videotape of eps hoping I'd get hooked (I was hoping too since Trek had lost its luster). So I know exactly what you mean. Like diff POV, flashbacks really *can* be cool when done well.

[argosy]

Now you're making me feel bad for my big ol' scene o' italics in Where the Magic Is. Hmmm... should I have done that differently? Quite possibly and it's something I'll think about for next time. I really am a beginning prose writer.

I do love flashbacks though -- when they're necessary, I think they're fabulous. (Of course, they're abused.)

Hee, in script format you say FLASHBACK, as in something like "EXT. RUNNING TRACK -- DAY -- FLASHBACK." So easy. Yet another example of how scripts are more civilized than prose.

Interesting stuff.

[harmony_bites]

Now you're making me feel bad for my big ol' scene o' italics in Where the Magic Is

Italics are hard to read :-(

But really, a story as good as that, you hardly notice these things unless as a beta you put them under a microscope.

I really am a beginning prose writer.

And I still have plenty to learn trust me--though I think I have gotten better. I was looking at one of my old Trek stories the other day--someone told me they were actually rec'ing it on crack_van. I was sorely tempted to edit it--I didn't because I look at my old stories as my benchmark, my baby pictures--but I wasn't crazy about how I handled narrative believe me.

And I love a good flashback too. In Trek I was particularly fond of the frame (touched on in the Kress article). You know, you start in a particular time or place, set things up as if one character is telling the story to the other, go back in time telling the meat of the story, then return at the end to the current time and place. Like POV, experimenting with this is a lot of the fun of fanfic.

Hee, in script

[argosy]

I think it's just bad writing in HP, not familiarity w/screenwriting technique. Not a lot of people read scripts (in their original form, I mean), including screenwriters.

[harmony_bites]

Hmmm. Maybe. Its just we had bad godawful writers in Trek, and I don't remember this there. The worst ficcer I've ever read was in Trek. I'm tempted to name her--even link to a story--zero chance she'd ever come across this post, but it still feels mean. It was common across the fandom to write MSTs of her stories that would get circulated via email.

Maybe its not so much script-writing as film-watching? You often see a scene of flashback introduced with titles saying "five years ago"

[purpleygirl]

I hesitate using flashbacks for those reasons, usually because they seem so contrived.
am I the only one who wasn't crazy about all those Pensieve scenes in Half-Blood Prince? I found them rather boring and annoying actually. I couldn't wait to get back to the story. (Otoh, what HP fan, particularly Snape fan, isn't absolutely riveted by "Snape's Worst Memory" in Order of the Phoenix?)
I thought that the ones pre-HBP worked because they were still immediate -- they involved Harry's feelings and interpretations of the events as they were unfolding. Even in the GoF Pensieve scene, if I recall rightly (but that was relatively short anyway). But in HBP...I admit I skimmed through those, so maybe I'm wrong, but I think their major point was to introduce Voldemort backstory and didn't really affect Harry, at least on a personal level? The reason I skipped those is mainly because Voldemort is a stereotypical villain; I don't need to know his backstory. On the other hand, Snape I need to know about. *g*
When you're writing a story in the usual

[harmony_bites]

I think what you've said about why preHBP Pensieve scenes worked where the ones for HBP didn't makes sense--in fact, if anything, I was disappointed because it didn't do anything unexpected with Voldie

[purpleygirl]

You know, that was probably a silly question after all, since my particular dream sequence happens to be set in the past, so the same technique for flashbacks could work there, but dreams can also be in the future, or not in any particular time. So yeah, I didn't think that through. Not for the first time. :) You're clearly more well read on these things than me, so thanks for the article. It looks interesting for real dreams as well! My most vivid dreams were repetitive, at least in theme -- they were really imaginative. I managed to decipher them and solved the RL problem they referred to in the end (at least I suppose so, since they stopped then!), but I miss them in a weird way; they were so creative and vivid, so sensory

[harmony_bites]

You're clearly more well read on these things than me, so thanks for the article.

Trek was my first fandom, and I met my best friend there, and she has pro-writing aspirations--has sold two short stories and has a novel submitted to a publisher. Its just a hobby on my part, but at least partly because of her, I have indeed become well-read on the subject.

I once had a beta right at the start of my WIP who told me I was using 'said' too much. I suppose she was right -- but instead of simply cutting them out, like the dunce I am I started using saidisms instead.The best dialogue tag, if you can make clear to the reader who is speaking, is none at all. If it's just two in the scene, often you can have an exchange of dialogue with no tags at all. It's tricker with several characters, but you can use "beats"--action tied to the speaker, to break things up

[greyrider]

You might check out the Best American Short Story (BASS) series that comes out each year. You don't have to purchase a new one. Just go to your local Half-Price Bookstore and see what they have on their shelves. When I started workshop classes, one of my professors has us use the BASS to become familiar with really well written stories that do use flashbacks and other techniques well. We had to read a story and then break it down to discuss what techniques we liked in the story and how the author used them. This exercise is a good a one and sometimes, you'll find an author who weaves flashback in very skillfully (try 2004 one - I think that has one that does it). I found this exercise works best in small group like a book club or something, but I think there is a benefit to doing it along if you don't have that. Might be an idea for a chat group if you can find interested parties... have some meet at certain times to disect a specific fic or even other short stories or novels this way

[harmony_bites]

I have the BASS edited by Updike that anthologized their best of the 20th Century, and ever since I've started writing have certainly read pro stories with technique in mind (and especially since I've betaed been all too aware of clumsy technique like POV jumps and saidisms in pro works). Its a pity there's not an index somewhere telling you where to find all the best scenes handling flashback, or love scenes, or dream sequences to give yourself a refresher on how it should be done.

I'm not against flashback--I certainly took lots of liberties with chronology in my old fanfic--they can be effective, sometimes especially in fanfic leaning on canon events that want to illustrate and explain character thru backstory.

But yes, they often are done badly--particularly in the way people transition to it.

[greyrider]

I don't have the Updike BASS, but I've seen it and think it's excellent. I use the Joyce Carol Oates BAE (Best American Essay) for my work and area of concentration. Were I primarily fiction, I'd own the Updike BASS.

And yes, an index like that would be wonderful. Many of my books have those little plastic post-it flags in them with stuff like "flashback", "dream", and "imagery" written on them. I've also gotten over writing in certain books although I still prefer pencil so I can erase. I highlight like a demon.

[harmony_bites]

I keep a notebook myself when I read and often jot things down that I find effective. One month I kept writing down any effective lines I found describing scent, because I find that so hard to work in, so I wanted to see how others do it.

There's something that makes it hard for me to write or highlight fiction. Books in general though I made a habit of doing so to textbooks.