How To Write Flashbacks That Don't Suck

Beth McMullen and Lisa Schmid tackle the art of writing flashbacks, offering insight into integrating them effectively into your narrative. The episode focuses on making flashbacks seamless and impactful, avoiding common pitfalls that can distract or confuse readers.

Flashbacks: A Double-Edged Sword
- Flashbacks can enrich your story by providing backstory and depth to characters.
- However, misused flashbacks can disrupt the flow and pull readers out of the story.

Five Key Tips for Effective Flashbacks
1. Anchor Your Flashback: Ensure there's a clear connection to the present narrative to smoothly transition into a flashback.
2. Have Purpose: Each flashback should serve a specific purpose, adding value to character development or advancing the plot.
3. Keep It Brief: Lengthy flashbacks can derail the story's pace. Focus on delivering essential information.
4. Make It Clear: Clearly delineate between past and present to avoid confusing your readers. Consistency is key.
5. Integrate, Don't Isolate: Flashbacks should feel like a natural part of the story, not as isolated incidents or info dumps.
6. BONUS: Sometimes, the goal of a flashback can be achieved within the present narrative, reducing the need for a disruptive shift to the past.

Personal Insights and Examples
- Beth shares her experience with her first published novel, Original Sin, discussing how her unfiltered use of flashbacks played out.
- Lisa provides an example from Hart and Souls, illustrating how a flashback can reveal character motivations rooted in past experiences.

The Importance of Revision and Feedback
- Emphasizing the role of critical evaluation, revision, and external feedback in refining the use of flashbacks in your manuscript.
- The hosts share personal anecdotes about receiving and incorporating feedback to improve their work.

Remember
- Flashbacks, when used judiciously and effectively, can significantly enhance storytelling.

Next Episode Preview
- Beth and Lisa tease the next episode featuring Patience Bloom, a veteran in romance editing and publishing, promising invaluable insights into the genre.

Blog version here

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Transcript

Beth McMullen: 0:30

Hi friends, I'm Beth McMullen.

Lisa Schmid: 0:32

And I'm Lisa Schmidt.

Beth McMullen: 0:34

And we're the co-hosts of Riders with Wrinkles. This is season three, episode nine, a deep dive craft episode, and today we're talking about how to write flashbacks that don't suck. It's tricky, and that's why we're here to help you navigate the complexities of incorporating flashbacks into your work with greater skill and confidence. Personally, flashbacks give me anxiety. Yeah, what are your initial thoughts when somebody says flashback? What do you feel? Like I, other than like who is this weirdo yelling flashback at me?

Lisa Schmid: 1:07

I have that weirdo in my head screaming at me. So okay, you're taking it up a level. I know it depends on if you're asking, like when I approach it, when I'm writing it or when I'm reading it in a book. But, like when I do it, I like to keep it short and sweet because I don't want to like meander, so I just I like to pepper them throughout each story, Like they're always there, but it's almost just like a little, like just a glimpse. I think there's a fine line with flashbacks where it can be data dumping, backstory dumping, and when you, when you see that, when I see that in a story, it takes me out of the story. So I think that's the big thing I would always say is like, don't do too much, just give enough so that you have an idea of who the character is and you know where they come from. Don't overdo it. That's what I always like worry about when I'm doing flashbacks.

Beth McMullen: 1:56

I think it's very interesting, like you just said, to think of it from those two perspectives as a reader and as a writer. Because as a reader, you know when it's done well, because you barely notice it's there. And as a writer, I think you want to aspire to be doing your flashbacks so that it is unnoticeable, it's just in the flow. So think about those books that you've read where their flashbacks are an integral part of the story but they don't disrupt the reading.

Lisa Schmid: 2:28

That's when it's done really well, and then when it's too long of a flashback, then it just really does take you out. So I think there's an art to keeping it short and sweet we put together five tips that you really need to if you're writing flashbacks.

Beth McMullen: 2:45

Take a piece of paper, write these tips in big blocky letters on the piece of paper and stick it on your laptop or on your screen so you see it all the time. Because if you use these tips to guide you, you're going to come up with a flashback that hits all the right notes and works for the reader, so you don't chase them away from your story.

Lisa Schmid: 3:06

You know what Think about this flashback. It should be a flash, like it should be Right, like quick.

Beth McMullen: 3:12

So my very, very first novel that I ever got published not the first novel that I wrote because I had written other ones that never saw the light of day, but the first one that I ever published, called Original Sin. It's a story about Spy who is, quote unquote, retired at living her life and gets pulled back into the world of espionage for various reasons. But it was critical to the story for the reader to know what she had done in her past. That novel, because I wrote it as a really fresh writer. I had no idea what I was doing. I just like merrily went along throwing in flashbacks all over the place, here, there, everywhere, didn't think about it, wasn't worried about it, just was part of the story. Off I go. I think if I tried to write that now I'd freak out because I'd be overthinking it, stressing about the flashbacks. And they work. They work fine, they're integrated in. But it was funny because I didn't dwell on it at all, just went and did it.

Beth McMullen: 4:18

Sometimes ignorance is bliss when you're writing that's another thing you can write in big block letters and stick on your screen. Seriously, because I swear to you, if people knew about, if I knew about writing what I know now, then I would never have done it.

Lisa Schmid: 4:36

No, oh, my God, totally. I am Just like a little side note about that book. I love that book and that was your first book that I read. That I, you know was had just met you and your kids. Books hadn't come out yet, so I'm like, ooh, beth McMullin, I'm gonna buy her book. It's so funny and I to this day I'm sure I've mentioned it a million times on here, but you did it so well the flashbacks to the espionage days that I like in my head was like she was a spy. Beth was a spy at some point in her life.

Beth McMullen: 5:12

And as I keep telling you, I can't, I can never tell you what way or another.

Lisa Schmid: 5:18

You did it. It's done so well. I love that book. It was so funny. There is a scene where I can't you were outside, like the character was outside a coffee shop and had to pull out like a little portable toilet and like you were kind of flashing back to when you were in espionage and like kind of what you were doing now, and I just remember laughing throughout this whole book. So, listeners, go out and get this book. It is so, so funny and so good. I just I crocked up and I gave it to. I had Molly Burnham staying with me one time. She writes middle grade.

Beth McMullen: 5:53

I love her. She's so funny. She's fabulous.

Lisa Schmid: 5:55

She's really fabulous and she's like oh, I don't have a book for the plane ride back East and I was like here, I gave her my copy of your book and I was like buy.

Beth McMullen: 6:06

Sally's in, I'll give you another. I have like six.

Lisa Schmid: 6:10

Oh, my God, you need to give me another one, because I would totally reread it. I loved it so much.

Beth McMullen: 6:14

All right, so let's get on to our tips, so we can make everybody smart about flashbacks.

Lisa Schmid: 6:19

Number one anchor your flashback. This is really important. Establish a strong anchor in your current narrative before transitioning into a flashback. This could be a physical object, a specific setting or an emotional state that naturally leads into the memory. For example, a character might find an old photograph that triggers a vivid memory. So I have a good example of this In my very first chapter of Heart and Souls. Sticks is an anxious character. It's his first day of middle school and he sees a kid who reminds him of his old bully from elementary school, and so that triggers that flashback. And then I did like a little paragraph on what that bully did and what has created this anxiety, this long term anxiety for sticks. So that was how I used a flashback in my very first chapter.

Beth McMullen: 7:15

That's a great example of how to weave it in so that it's relevant and the trigger so it's linked. It's not just, you know, out of the blue Right, tip number two, have purpose. So each flashback should serve a very clear purpose in your story, whether it's to reveal character back story character motivation, to uncover secrets, provide context for current events. It should answer questions or fill in gaps that enhance the story. So here's a little bit of advice on how potentially to do that. Before writing it, outline its goal. So ask yourself what new information it brings to the story, and this is super important. Why is this information necessary at that point in the narrative? So if it doesn't rise to the occasion, don't use it, get rid of it. It's not necessary. It really needs to be indispensable for you to put it in there. It's a high, high bar and each flashback has to meet that bar or just jettison it, get rid of it.

Lisa Schmid: 8:24

Absolutely, and you do. You'll see flashbacks every once in a while in a book that are unnecessary and I always look at like what was the author thinking, Like, why did he include this? And sometimes it doesn't make sense. So be careful with those.

Beth McMullen: 8:37

Yeah, it should be obvious. It should be obvious why it's there and what purpose it is filling.

Lisa Schmid: 8:43

Okay, number three keep it brief. Flashbacks should be concise and focused. Long drawn-out flashbacks can disrupt the flow of the narrative, pulling readers too far from the main storyline and diluting the urgency of the present moment. We've kind of been touching on this, so limit the scope of the flashback to the essential details needed to achieve its purpose. Think of it as a short story within your larger narrative. Every word counts, obviously, and every sentence should serve the flashback's intended function.

Beth McMullen: 9:18

I had an editor once at Simon Schuster. This was for an adult book that I wrote under a pseudonym and she would take a red marker and on the page she would cross out stuff. I've probably talked about this. I was so traumatized by it. But it's actually brilliant. And she would say does not move the plot forward. So any writing that I had in there that did not serve my larger purpose, she was like nope, get rid of it. And that is something that really applies to flashbacks. Every word and every sentence should be pushing the plot forward in some way. That is absolutely necessary. So keep that in mind. Think about the mental red marker. That's what I like to think of it as, even though it was terrifying and I was scared.

Lisa Schmid: 10:13

Well, and even just as you're writing your story, I get stuck from writing a chapter or whatever, and sometimes I'll be like I've just added something and people are going to wonder why did she add that? They're going to be looking for the purpose of that. I was just writing something and I was going to put a beehive in there and I'm like you know what, and a couple chapters later on in the book people are going to be like what was up with the beehive?

Beth McMullen: 10:36

Yeah, do you know what I mean? Why is it there Right? What purpose?

Lisa Schmid: 10:40

does it serve? I'm like I better take that out because it's going to be like stuck in the back of some reader's mind going what's up with the beehive? Why is it still Right?

Beth McMullen: 10:48

because it's unique enough that it's a detail you remember, and if it doesn't have a purpose, it shouldn't be there.

Lisa Schmid: 10:54

Yeah, and I was doing it for settings, but I felt like it was too big of a detail that people would always be looking for its purpose. So keep down in mind when you're doing flashbacks as well.

Beth McMullen: 11:06

So number four make it clear If you have a flashback, you need to delineate the point between present and flashback to avoid confusing your readers. So people sometimes use tenses to distinguish between the main narrative and the flashback. You can use visual markers, chapters, textual markers, structure whatever it is that you think works. One thing that this is a pet peeve of mine when a author is using chapter chapter, chapter like present chapter, flashback chapter, present chapter, that sequence A lot of times they use the chapter heading to tell me that I'm now in the past.

Beth McMullen: 11:48

Now there are certain things in reading that my brain doesn't ever look at. I never look at chapter headings. If you've said in the chapter heading, july 27th 1987, I'm not getting that. Now you've done the job, you've used the marker. But I think you need to keep in mind, if you have weirdos like me, there should be something in the actual text that reminds us that we're in the past and that we're not in the present part of the story. Whatever it is that you choose to do be consistent, super important. Once you choose a method for signaling flashbacks, stick with it through the entire novel. And While you're giving clues to go into the flashback, you also need to give clues that you're coming out of the flashback so people and readers understand that they're back in the primary timeline.

Lisa Schmid: 12:40

Absolutely Integrate, don't isolate. This is a great tip. Flashbacks should feel like an integral part of the story, not isolated incidents or info dumps. I think we touched on that.

Beth McMullen: 12:52

The info dump like makes me crazy. Yeah, Honestly, as a reader, I'm like no, no, no, I'm skipping all these pages and then I don't get the information that I need for the story to work.

Lisa Schmid: 13:02

Yeah, I feel the same way about well, I don't want to go off on that. I digress, I was going to go off on prologues, but I don't.

Beth McMullen: 13:10

That is a whole different episode. Prologues and epilogues we're going to do that like sometimes soon. I never read prologues.

Lisa Schmid: 13:17

Ok, flashbacks Should weave into the narrative, naturally emerging from and contributing to the story's current events or emotional landscape. And that is so true. They can explain why your character is the person they've become in the story and what's their motivation, what they need to overcome all that kind of stuff.

Beth McMullen: 13:37

Yeah, and it should relate to the present, absolutely. So you're showing, connect that flashback to a theme and arc, a plot progression, whatever, but it has to be critical to what is going on in the present. So, for example, if you're flashing back to your character in a coffee shop and they're thinking about the coffee that they're ordering and it has absolutely nothing to do with the current narrative, the present day narrative, don't put it in. It's got no place. You have to be really, really hard on yourself with these flashbacks, because they have such potential to go wrong that you really need to keep the bar very high for all of them. Be a little bit harsh with your own evaluation of whether they stay or they go.

Lisa Schmid: 14:24

Have we scared everybody. I know they are scared, you know what they are scared of, but once you get in the flow of things, you'll figure out where to put them in and where not to put them in and, after writing a flashback, read in the context of the surrounding chapters to ensure it flows smoothly and enhances the overall story.

Beth McMullen: 14:43

That's super important too, and you can figure out a lot by reading a couple of chapters that are either bookending your flashbacks or chapters that have flashbacks integrated into them, because if you read it and it feels drawing, there's something wrong and you have to go back and fix it.

Lisa Schmid: 14:59

If I have flashbacks that I'm maybe a little bit worried about, like when I send it over to a beta reader, I'll just point it out and say how does this flow, or what do you think? Sometimes, especially Catherine, my CP is brutal. So she's like you know what she is? She's a giant red line marker. She'll just be like yeah, she's the human red marker.

Beth McMullen: 15:20

She cares. This is a good thing, though. You need that. You need that. It's important.

Lisa Schmid: 15:26

So I always have people look out for it. I know what my writing quirks are and, leslie, my agent sends something back and she's like you need to be careful with this.

Beth McMullen: 15:34

And I'm like, oh look, there's my new writing quirk, just add it to the list of things that you're trying not to do.

Lisa Schmid: 15:41

It was a new one. I'm like, oh my god, it was like a zip that just popped up. It's just like that is all new to me. I didn't know, I did that.

Beth McMullen: 15:50

I also think one of the things that I don't know that we touched on in this list of five that just occurred to me is that sometimes you can achieve the goal of the flashback within the current timeline. You don't need the flashback. The information that you're trying to give and flashbacks are always about giving information you can integrate that into the present in some creative way, and it might be that you don't figure it out until later. So you put in the flashback and then later you think, ok, I can actually weave this into the current timeline, get the information to people without having to do the flashback. So I think that's sort of something you might address in our revision, where you have your arms around the whole story and you can see the places where maybe you don't need that flashback. So that was just something else I was thinking about.

Lisa Schmid: 16:41

How do you mean that? What's an example of it?

Beth McMullen: 16:43

So, for example, let's say that your plot hinges on somebody's love of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkles. So then you have a flashback. They're a kid and they're having their first vanilla ice cream and chocolate sprinkles and they love it. So that's your flashback. But now you're writing in the present. You can have your main character is out with a friend and they're having their vanilla ice cream and chocolate sprinkles and they can say I love this. It reminds me of when I was a kid by favorite flavor. So now suddenly I mean that's a super basic example, but that's what I mean. You've addressed the info dump. You need to know that she loves this ice cream. You don't need to know details of why. That's really irrelevant to this plot, you just need to know she likes it. So now you know, put it in the present timeline, so you're not having a disruption of a flashback in any of the. You know potentially that danger zone, but you get rid of that flashback and now it's happening. Now that's your bonus tip.

Beth McMullen: 17:44

That's tip number 5.1. That was good, thank you. So that is it for today's episode on flashbacks. We hope that this gave you some clarity of purpose and will help you navigate these choppy shark infested flashback waters, because we know they're a little scary. So I have been taking the highlights of these deep dive episodes and putting them on our website blog. So if you didn't get a chance to write stuff down or you're driving your car and writing stuff down would be dangerous, you can go check out the blog and that will give you kind of a nice little cheat sheet for what we talked about today. It's also in the podcast notes, but the notes are quite as in depth as the blog is because of space requirements. So that is our rad new website writerswithricklesnet. Go there, see the blog, like our show, follow our show, subscribe all of those good things.

Beth McMullen: 18:45

And next week, for episode 10, we are talking to Patience Bloom, who is a decades-long veteran of romance editing and publishing. Romance is so, so hot right now, and I mean that in all the ways. If you've read any lately, you know what I'm talking about, and Patience just knows more than anyone in the world about this genre. So if you are writing that, thinking about writing that, just curious. You don't want to miss that conversation. I think it's going to be really great and until then, lovely listeners, happy reading, writing and listening. Bye Lisa, bye guys.