How do you feel about flashbacks in a novel?

I'm not very fond of flashbacks, simply because I see them ill used so often. The one that drives me the most nuts is the "how did I get here you ask" which starts the story towards the climax then goes into the flashback for most of the story.

Also I see a lot of interesting story's end up as flashbacks, where any suspense there would have been otherwise is gone because we already know how it is going to end and sometimes I find myself shaking the book yelling "Why is this a flashback? I want to read THAT story."

It can be done well and I won't stop reading simply because there is a flashback though.

 

I like flashbacks sometimes. I think they can provide good context that simple reference would leave empty. Anything needs to be done right, but I think flashbacks done right can be just as powerful as anything else.

 

Just started reading The Hunger Games, it's got a few flashbacks. The Narrator sees something that triggers a memory, some of them are pretty long. They are very well done and make perfect sense in the context of the book.

 

I've had flashbacks that simply refer to places earlier in the story.

They were a sentence long.

They were fine to me.

Only occasionally do I really care much for a flashback that is longer than a small paragraph and I almost despise those which drag on and on. I can usually only appreciate the longer ones if their purpose in the story itself becomes truly apparent and necessary.

The real question is not whether or not you use use a flashback in a novel but rather, what constitutes a "flashback done right?"

edit: not to imply I'm saying you should always use a flashback (I've said things similarly to the above about other subjects and people have really, really, REALLY badly misunderstood what I was trying to say) but that whether or not to use a flashback should just be personal preference. But what makes one good?

 

Are we using the same definition of flashback? Because I have to think hard to think of novels that _have_ any flashbacks. Sure, I can come up with some, but it's a relatively small minority of the novels I've read.

ChickenFreak

 

I've never been one to hate flashbacks, although I do feel that it breaks the flow somewhat when a writer moves from third-person narration to first-person narration of a flashback (this is really my own personal opinion and experience though).

Provided that the min story is being told in the same perspective that the flashback is narrated in, however, I really don't see any problem with it so long as the story continues to flow.

 

Ugh. Not being able to edit my edit for 24 hours is lame.

 

I hardly ever include any in my stories. I think I have just once, and I don't even know if it qualifies as a flashback. Does it have to be written like a scene, like it was happening to the character right now, or could it be just the char looking back in present time and remembering? what is the difference? Anyway, I don't have anything against them, I think, if they're not too many or if it interrupts the flow of the story, like if every other chapter was a flashback. In that case it seems to me the story maybe should have started earlier. Personally I don't write the kind of stories where I need those, or maybe it's just that I haven't learned how to use them?

 

I am currently writing a story that I found it needed flashbacks in order to progress forward. If your flashbacks plays an important part in the plot or is relevant to your story then use it. How you direct your reader into the flashback is how you can accomplish your goal without having your reader think you are reading another novel.
I find when characters reminiscent on the past too much it gets very repetitive and I lose interest.

 

I just finished writing a novel that takes place in two different times and is about the same person. I think that it depends on how you use the flashbacks: if they are only used sort of to sum up the personality of a character I think its actually even more interesting if you dont know all the reasons why someone turned out as they did, maybe just have some hints but not write their entire life story

 

in my point of view flashback is an essential thing. mostly the flashbacks used to convey the reasons. like the saying "too much of anything is good for nothing". lengthy flashbacks disappoints me a lot.

 

How about if you're writing a scene at a funeral? do you think flashbacks are suitable or do you think they'd cheapen the mood? Maybe keep it as a straight forward funeral with some highly-emotional speeches? I'm unsure on how to make the scene better? Perhaps one flashback? Back to when the guy's dying? Or is that too cliche?

 

For a funeral, I wouldn't interrupt the event itself by inserting a flashback. Depending on the purpose of the flashback, how it moves the story, I would place it just before the funeral starts, or after when everyone is standing around not knowing what to say.

 

if the story is starting with a funeral scene flashback is suitable even full story can be a flashback with funeral as a starting scene.

 

I hate (hate hate hate hate HATE) when a flashback takes you out of the present, when you're eagerly waiting to see what happens next, and jumps you into the past for 10 pages and makes you wait for the resolution of the action it interrupted. I have read numerous published books that do this, and it's really annoying.

A good flashback should be more interesting that what is happening at the present. When you've finished the flashback, it should give you a new perspective on the action that it interrupted such that it is interesting again. Flashbacks should propel the story, not give an author an excuse for a 2,000 word aside.

The exceptions to this are stories that are explicitly structured around flashbacks, and the like. Obviously something like that is going to have different guidelines.

 

I don't mind when flashback interrupts action. A lot of time, I think that is the most appropriate place for it. What is really annoying to somebody could intrigue somebody else.

 

I was curious about this too. I don't mind flashbacks when I read them, but apparently it bothers some people. The problem is, sometimes past events are crucial to the current storyline. When that's the case I think that it's acceptable to have a flashback. I'd say that there are a couple things to keep in mind if you're attempting this though. The flashback should be immediately relevant to the current plot, it shouldn't be too long to the point that the current plot is forgotten, and there should be clear points where it begins and ends.

This is all just imo.

 

I think I've just run into too many encounters where it's been abused. The author starts off a dramatic and interesting scene, and then inserts a flashback to dump a whole lot of exposition on the reader, counting on the cliff-hanger to keep the reader going so they can plough through the flashback, and get the payoff. Sort of the way a lot of TV series end each episode in a cliff-hanger to get the viewer back again next week.

 

Pretty much this.

 

There's a valid point there, but at the same time, these tactics wouldn't be used if they didn't work to some degree. (Especially TV show cliffhangers. lol) I think it also depends on who is having the flashback. Arguably, a traumatic moment could trigger a flash for your character that would feel random elsewhere. (And I know for me, the parallels/context with the current scene is why I placed mine where I did, which are probably two of the few flashback scenes in any of my novels.) It can be abused, I suppose, but I think it can also be effective.

 

It's about how you use them and how well they're executed.

 

A flashback must further the story. It must reveal something about a person which we didn't see before or else show us an event we didn't know about. Otherwise, it's out of place and useless.
I have enjoyed books with flashbacks; there are good and bad ones. I don't have anything against them.

 

From my experience, flashbacks are only used to move the story forward, not backward, like some writers think. It isn't used for expeditionary purposes. It’s only used to reveal character, not to reveal story.

I just wanted to put my two cents in.

 

I agree, and IMO, furthering character could be even more important. It's the characters that have me reading the book. As long as it's interesting and fits with the story, I don't got many gripes about flashbacks. They should be transitioned into properly, but I think the general hatred of them is a bit unwarranted.

 

I love flashbacks because it shines alot more light on what actually happened and if there is a certain way a character acts because of what happened in the past you know why, so basically makes the story more interesting to readers in my opinion.