Find out why writers use this popular device - and discover some of the potential pitfalls of taking your readers back in time. Let’s begin with a definition of what a flashback is. A flashback is a literary technique in which a writer begins a narrative in the present and at a specific moment or moments, takes his or her reader back into the past. This is a popular technique among film writers too. Flashbacks usually occur early on in the story, so that the reader knows something, but not everything, about a character or situation. However, the reader needs to feel invested in the narrative in order to care about what a flashback reveals. So, why use a flashback? A flashback allows the writer to provide essential context or background information about a character or situation. As mentioned earlier, a flashback occurs when a reader is already invested in the story, but doesn’t have the full picture. Therefore, one reason writers use flashbacks is to ‘fill in the gaps’ in a more interesting and efficient way than the usual chronological approach. For example, instead of spending pages and pages recounting a character’s childhood, a flashback to a specific moment or incident allows the writer to convey important information quickly, particularly if a character’s backstory is complicated. As a result, the reader gets to know the character a little bit better, especially if the flashback is told from the protagonist’s point of view, though this may raise questions about narrative reliability, like Gene Forrester in ASP by John Knowles, which I review on this channel. In addition, a flashback can create sympathy or even empathy for a certain character who has so far been unlikeable or difficult to relate to. For example, if we find out that a certain character had a difficult childhood, we might be more forgiving towards him or her and understand them a little bit better. Examples of novels that use this device include ASP, and if you’d like to watch my review of this novel, click the card in the top right-hand corner now. Other books that make use of flashbacks include The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, and one of my all-time favourites, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. Some potential drawbacks of using flashbacks is that they take the reader away from the story happening right now, which may cause us to lose interest in the main plot. Moreover, if the backstory gets too complex or irrelevant, it may confuse the reader and leave us unable to distinguish between what’s happening now and what happened in the past. Lastly, too much information in a backstory can feel like an ‘info dump’, thereby breaking one of the rules of successful fiction: to show, rather than tell. Nevertheless, flashbacks are enduringly popular and do have their place if used purposefully and not at the expense of the present narrative.

• published: 11 Jun 2020
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