McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Are Flashbacks Completely Taboo?
Quantus:
--- Quote from: BobForPresident on July 21, 2011, 12:48:25 AM ---Ooo, and one of my favorite movies of the past ten years, Walk the Line, is more than half flashback.
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And Memento is arguably one long series of flashbacks, but done uniquely and well.
Wordmaker:
There are a ton of rules for writing. For a first-time author, it is usually best to stick to them in as much as you are able, because it can take time to develop the skill to bend and break them well.
But never be afraid to break them.
If you feel that your story needs a flashback, go for it. One flashback scene won't be the be-all and end-all of whether or not your book gets published, and if an agent or publisher wants it removed, they will tell you.
My book deals with past-life memories. Whole chapters are essentially a form of flashback, and my editor hasn't made a mention of changing that. If you can make the flashback work as part of the story, and not as a way of dumping information, then it'll be fine.
Lanodantheon:
--- Quote from: Quantus on July 22, 2011, 02:20:01 PM ---And Memento is arguably one long series of flashbacks, but done uniquely and well.
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I only just saw that movie though I had heard about it before. Thanks for bringing it up Quantus.
In my Film Theory & Writing Classes Momento was always cited as the textbook example and best explainer of the difference between Plot and Story and the difference between chronology and linearity.
Going back to the original question of the thread, I think context is important(like rereading the original question):
--- Quote from: songofsuzanna on July 19, 2011, 09:27:48 PM ---There is a flashback in my novel that isn't very long, just a few lines of dialogue and some action, at a moment when the hero needs to make an important decision, when the character can either evolve or devolve (so to speak). But I keep reading about how flashbacks are completely taboo, you should never do them, period. Is this true?
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In this case, you have the tipping point for the character. When the character's Desire Line(The progression of character getting closing and closer to his/her goal) and the Need Line( The progression of how the character has to change to achieve his/her goal). This is actually a really good time to Flashback if you want to illustrate the thinking process of your character.
The key here songofsuzanna is how you present the source of the flashback. If the 3rd Person Omniscient Narrator all of a sudden went, "Back in time, some years ago..." it will break the linearity of the action and the flow is dead. That's a bad move.
If the flashback is an illustration of the character remembering that event and said flashback is the motivation they need to make that crucial decision, then the Flashback works and drives the story to its conclusion.
Basically I'm saying, make sure the Flashback is motivated by something going on in the scene not because the Narrator wants to. IF you have a first-person narrator, it makes it that much easier because it's someone telling the story in their own words.
Aakaakaak:
Jim used several flashbacks in GS. However, he has what, 20-ish best sellers and is still improving?
Flashbacks in a series that hasn't established itself can be dangerous, especially for newbies.
meg_evonne:
--- Quote from: Lanodantheon on July 24, 2011, 03:46:49 PM ---. . .Film Theory & Writing Classes Momento was always cited as the textbook example and best explainer of the difference between Plot and Story and the difference between chronology and linearity.
Going back to the original question of the thread, I think context is important(like rereading the original question):
In this case, you have the tipping point for the character. When the character's Desire Line(The progression of character getting closing and closer to his/her goal) and the Need Line( The progression of how the character has to change to achieve his/her goal). This is actually a really good time to Flashback if you want to illustrate the thinking process of your character.
The key here songofsuzanna is how you present the source of the flashback. If the 3rd Person Omniscient Narrator all of a sudden went, "Back in time, some years ago..." it will break the linearity of the action and the flow is dead. That's a bad move.
If the flashback is an illustration of the character remembering that event and said flashback is the motivation they need to make that crucial decision, then the Flashback works and drives the story to its conclusion.
Basically I'm saying, make sure the Flashback is motivated by something going on in the scene not because the Narrator wants to. IF you have a first-person narrator, it makes it that much easier because it's someone telling the story in their own words.
--- End quote ---
OK going to go back and read your posts in slow detail. interesting comments. very,very useful. thank you. new concepts for me, although i have heard of the need and desire lines. do you recall the textbook? i've had lots of people refer to "story" and its thoughts on the three acts. did this idea come from that?
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