Most Common Writing Errors ✔️

Flashbacks

Flashbacks (In General)

I've never been the biggest fan of flashbacks. I'm not against them and I don't automatically dislike them if I see them in a story, but for some reason, I've just never been a huge fan of them.

In my stories, I don't use them very often. I prefer to stay in the current timeline and let past events slip through using other methods like the emotional scene between characters A and B that I mentioned before.

Heartless is honestly the only story of mine that has multiple flashbacks (I think, don't quote me on that). Granted, that story is old and it definitely shows in the writing style, but it needed flashbacks to tell its story accurately.

It's all about the execution of flashbacks. What are you doing by showing the flashback? Is it imperative to the narrative, or are you showing it because you feel you have to?

This is weird but I prefer flashbacks in movies and TV shows than in books. There's nothing wrong with them in books, but for some reason I'm more attracted to the visual media's portrayal of flashbacks.

But anyway, back on topic. I think the same thing in the first section applies here. Flashbacks can be amazing storytelling devices that help you elevate your story to the next level. For example, you might have a trippy story that goes in and out of flashbacks, and that's awesome!

Again, it's about execution. You could have 40 flashbacks in one book and still somehow make them work if you execute them right and they fit in with the story you're telling.

How do you know if flashbacks fit in with the story? Well, seeing as I don't write flashbacks very often, I'm not really the most qualified to answer that. However, I will explain as best I can. When I wrote Heartless, I wrote Jimin's flashbacks so...

Well, minor spoilers I guess? I'm not going to say anything about his past, or the plot, or what the flashbacks were, or his character development, it's just his mental condition. So very very minor spoilers. I don't even know if I'd consider this a spoiler tbh.

I wrote Jimin's flashbacks to demonstrate his PTSD and how he cannot move on from the traumatic event that has dominated the past five years of his life. PTSD is a very serious condition that deals with sudden flashbacks. It made sense for Jimin to have flashbacks in that story, especially when he's looking at something that reminds him of said flashbacks. It's his mental condition.

Heartless is far from my favorite story of mine due to the technical writing (I'd change like 100 things about it if I could), but Jimin's character was damn good and I stand by that. His flashbacks were an essential part of who he was and why the readers grew to care about him so much. He sits at the table of my most beloved characters of all time at #3. Adrift Jimin, Commander Park, and finally, Heartless Jimin. The flashbacks I gave were a core reason readers fell in love with him. They saw every side of him and fell in love.

No but seriously what is it with me and traumatizing Jikook every chance I get?

Anyway, back on topic.

You may be writing a story about PTSD and are on the fence about flashbacks. I'd say it's not a bad idea to include them.

There are many many many many different reasons why you might write a flashback, so I'm not trying to discourage you from writing them since I think that's counterproductive. But what I am encouraging is thinking about what the flashback is doing and why you're placing it where you're placing it.

I bring up The Last of Us 2 so much I feel like a broken record, but the flashbacks in that game were up and down. The flashbacks themselves were good, but where they were placed? Not so much.

Many times the flashbacks were random and just kinda thrown in there, other times it was because Ellie had PTSD and had a flashback of a certain event in the story I won't spoil. The random flashbacks themselves were good, but the reason they happened wasn't. There was no reason for Ellie to have a flashback, so why did she? I know why! To give the audience what they wanted.

They could have easily alleviated this just by having Ellie look at something that reminded her of the flashback. Just look at something, that's it. But as is, they kinda threw some flashbacks in there for the sake of it.

Not all of them, some of them were well-placed, but on the other hand, some of them were thrown in there for the sake of it.

That's what I mean. Are you throwing the flashback in there for the sake of it, or is there a reason it's there?

That was an extremely long way to say "Make sure your flashback makes sense," but yeah, make sure your flashback makes sense.

That's all, peacceeee ✌️

~End~

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