Plot & structure · Tip 33 of 82 · 4 min read
Flashbacks: Jumping Back in Time
Step into a character's past for a moment to reveal a secret, a fear or a reason why.
A flashback is when your story jumps back in time to show something that happened before. It's like opening a door into a memory. Used well, it can explain why a character acts the way they do.
Why use a flashback?
- To reveal why a character is scared of something.
- To show a secret from the past at just the right moment.
- To explain how two characters know each other.
Find a trigger
Something in the present should spark the memory: a smell, a song, an old photo, a word someone says. This helps the reader follow the jump.
Signal the jump in and out
Readers need to know when you've gone back in time, and when you've come back. Words like "had", "years ago" or "she remembered" act like signposts.
Okay 😐
Zac saw the swimming pool. He was five. He fell in. Zac walked away from the pool.
Wow! 🤩
The smell of chlorine hit Zac, and suddenly he was five again. He had leaned too far over the edge. The water had closed over his head, green and silent, until Dad's arms had pulled him out. Zac blinked. He was twelve, and his swimming kit was still in his bag.
Grandma handed Priya the silver key. Priya's hands began to shake. The last time she had seen that key, it had been hanging round her brother's neck, the night he disappeared.