tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post6357913927163687281..comments2024-01-29T06:21:11.353+00:00Comments on Sarah Duncan's Blog: Flashback and Backstory 1Sarah Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-18418976508115321922011-07-01T20:51:49.174+01:002011-07-01T20:51:49.174+01:00Looking forward to it Kath!Looking forward to it Kath!Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-27700728336249453852011-06-30T21:31:49.136+01:002011-06-30T21:31:49.136+01:00Yes, I'm suspecting it doesn't work as wel...Yes, I'm suspecting it doesn't work as well in longer fiction. With a novel you have more time to hook the reader and get them interested, so you can tell the events in sequence rather than start at the end and use flashback.<br /><br />Now I'm realising I've used flashback in chapter 1 of my novel - doh. Was probably still in short story mode when I wrote that. You'll see on Sunday!Kath McGurlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02526923882402757423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-50955823286195416442011-06-30T20:58:18.791+01:002011-06-30T20:58:18.791+01:00Jim, if there's nothing really happening, then...Jim, if there's nothing really happening, then that scene doesn't deserve a place in your writing! If the hero has to make a train journey, then you end scene A with them at the station, and start scene B with them getting off the train. Never write the boring bits, that's my motto.<br /><br />Fiona - I never use flashback. In real life, when we drift off into re-playing scenes from our past it's because nothing exciting is happening in the present. Seems to me a pretty big hint for what to avoid in fiction. <br /><br />And I try to avoid backstory in the 'and now here's a paragraph of back story' form. Most of the stuff readers need to know can be slotted in seamlessly within the action and dialogue of characters. I'm looking at backstory tomorrow in more detail. <br /><br />Kath, I know that that's a tried and tested format for the 1000 word short story. I suspect it works because the time span of the story has to be short eg an afternoon, and that's a way of bringing the problem from the past that needs resolving into the story without having a longer time span. <br /><br />-A is worried about a forthcoming meeting.<br />-Why A is worried about the forthcoming meeting (because of something in the past - cue flashback)<br />-It's time for A's meeting, and the problem they were anxious about gets resolved. <br />Narrative time spanned could be as little as 10 minutes. <br /><br />But in longer pieces of writing you have more time and space, even in longer short stories, and I don't think flashback works as well. But, of course, if the writer is skilled, they can do anything and it'll work.Sarah Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12530089356370140344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-54030052916741199912011-06-30T18:09:29.222+01:002011-06-30T18:09:29.222+01:00I would agree flashback like that should be carefu...I would agree flashback like that should be carefully used in novels. However a 'standard' short story structure is to open with a scene in the present, go into flashback for perhaps half the length of the story, then come back to the present to resolve the situation. I think this works well for a short (1000 word) story. If you started with the action in the flashback isn't there a danger you'll take too long to get to the hook?Kath McGurlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02526923882402757423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-72778310215249154372011-06-30T09:08:36.350+01:002011-06-30T09:08:36.350+01:00This post is very helpful, thank you. It's es...This post is very helpful, thank you. It's especially useful to have an illustration of each one. I recently followed other advice and moved all my back story to the second half of my novel. I'm not confident with flashback so I haven't tried it. Perhaps it's just as well!<br /><br />I'd be interested to know, Sarah, under which circumstances you use them, or do you endeavour to avoid them altogether?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12817023658086779385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6771775388110854391.post-89392052713124735172011-06-30T08:55:59.115+01:002011-06-30T08:55:59.115+01:00I think the point is, as you say, not to insert a ...I think the point is, as you say, not to insert a flashback in the middle of a stream of action but to use a flashback when there's nothing really happening. Your hero is on a train journey, a journey necessary to the plot, so delve into his thoughts and into his past while he's doing it.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com