How do you write a flashback into the middle of a chapter?

[JustHANO]

Anyone have any experience putting a flashback into their chapters? Do you cut, have to literally state it a flashback. I established that the character is younger and different looking but it still reads werid to me.

 

[Sabruness]

Anyone have any experience putting a flashback into their chapters? Do you cut, have to literally state it a flashback. I established that the character is younger and different looking but it still reads werid to me.

In what style is your story written? third person or first? do you write in the present tense or past?
I have one flashback currently in my story but it's written as if the character themselves were talking about what the flashback is about

 

[L0pez]

Never wrote anything but might be helpful:
https://www.nownovel.com/blog/incorporate-flashbacks-into-a-story/
https://www.standoutbooks.com/writing-flashbacks/
https://cayceberryman.com/dos-and-donts-of-writing-flashbacks/

Especially the cayceberryman one has a paragraph about tenses.

https://www.be-a-better-writer.com/flashback.html
This one has examples.

Though if you're asking for some key-words to let the reader clearly know that you're switching to flashback?
My googling failed, but wouldn't literally anything amongst "once again, he saw familiar scene"/"suddenly he was in [some place], [X] yo again" kind of lines work?

 

[tak]

I use SH's dividing line. If it's like, a little flash back (foreshadowing for future big events) or flashback + current event montage (like in movies where B is rushing cause A is dying and we get flashback of their interaction-rush-interaction-rush thing) you can use italics for the sentence.
Unless, like me, you use italics for character's thought. Then idk

 

[DaoFox]

I usually advise avoiding the middle of a chapter and trying to do it at the beginning instead. but ultimately as long as you have a break and an indicator that a flashback is occurring, you can do it almost any which way

 

[TLCsDestiny]

Have a connection. For example: talk about 'door' flash back to how it opened blah blah blah then finish with the 'door' again...i mostly do it like that.

 

[jinxs2011]

The flashbacks I have in my stories are from the perspective of the character remembering events, and is narrated by them. That, coupled with the fact that I write flashbacks in past tense whereas I normally write in present tense, I think makes it fairly obvious.

 

[Jemini]

I literally had a small mini flash-back in the (still unposted) chapter I wrote just today. I started with a tense moment, and then I went into the events of the previous week leading up to this moment.

I my mind, the effect of the flashback is the more important thing. You have to first ask if it's really necessary and if it changes anything. In my case, what it did was turn a scene from the expected moment of action and tension to a scene that literally had me crying just to write it simply by adding that bit of background to what's going on in the character's head at this moment.

So, yeah. Info dump, probably it's not so important. If knowing the information from the flashback actually really changes the scene though, that's something entirely different. It has to be something that makes a big difference in how the reader views what's going on in the scene.

 

[JustHANO]

In what style is your story written? third person or first? do you write in the present tense or past?
I have one flashback currently in my story but it's written as if the character themselves were talking about what the flashback is about

Thrid person.

Also thanks Lopez, the links really helped.

I re-wrote it and atleast it looking correct now. Idk what was going through my head, but it went from third person narrative to first person and made no sense at first.

 

[Lost_Strings]

For me I do it by making the character says something that would trigger it.

Examples:

Eon: "If I was right, it was when. . ."

-

Right after the war, the Empire blah blah blah

-
Or even by simply doing something. Really, It depends if you can make people recognize it as a flashback and not a jump in the story. But its better to keep TRIGGERS to make things reasonable.

For fighting scenes it could be like this: Italics are characters thoughts.

The sword was about to reach his heart but with a swift turn and a block by his sword the attack was then avoided.

"EON!!!" He lunged drowned in wrath.

WHY! WHY! WHY!

How can you betray me!? EON!

-

3 years ago.

"Eon!" His best friend arrived and blah blah

-

This is how i do it~ hope it helps somehow.

 

[Ai-chan]

Anyone have any experience putting a flashback into their chapters? Do you cut, have to literally state it a flashback. I established that the character is younger and different looking but it still reads werid to me.

It's generally much easier to make it either at the start of the chapter or separate the flashback into a completely different chapter altogether. You need to consider the transition if you make the flashback and current events exist in the same chapter.

 

[LookingForAGoldenThigh]

When I write a flash back in the middle of the chapter I do it via the character so I end up writing it like this:

The memory comes unbidden to his mind,

Then I'd make a new paragraph that writes out the event. Depending on what the story needs I'd either summarize the memory with a few sentence/s that stood out in the character's memory to flesh out whatever it is that made a flashback important OR i'd write out the whole scene for maximum emotion and then start a new paragraph for returning to present time

 

[JustHANO]

When I write a flash back in the middle of the chapter I do it via the character so I end up writing it like this:

The memory comes unbidden to his mind,

Then I'd make a new paragraph that writes out the event. Depending on what the story needs I'd either summarize the memory with a few sentence/s that stood out in the character's memory to flesh out whatever it is that made a flashback important OR i'd write out the whole scene for maximum emotion and then start a new paragraph for returning to present time

Yours sound like the most nearest my situation. It's third person right? So would the flashback,

1. Have character telling it
2. Have the character thinking about it
3. Have the narrator telling the flashback to the reader.

 

[LookingForAGoldenThigh]

Yours sound like the most nearest my situation. It's third person right? So would the flashback,

1. Have character telling it
2. Have the character thinking about it
3. Have the narrator telling the flashback to the reader.

If it's in 3rd person, I use a mix of the 2 & 3, It would be a narration but I'd occasionally slip in the character's thoughts about it as the flashback goes

 

[Lone_Crane]

What William Faulkner famously did in The Sound and the Fury is just start writing the flashback in the next paragrah (he did it even in the same paragraph), but put it in italics.

It's hard to give advice without some example text to go on.

 

[JustHANO]

What William Faulkner famously did in The Sound and the Fury is just start writing the flashback in the next paragrah (he did it even in the same paragraph), but put it in italics.

It's hard to give advice without some example text to go on.

Omfg this is brilliant since I dont use italics for thoughts. Love ya for that one.

 

[Love4NovelGuy]

I don’t think ‘flashbacks’ are a good option. Maybe a chapter set in a time of their past but cutting back and forth between past and present like what movies do can ruin pacing. It’s best to express the past through their actions or through interactions and gossip of those around them.

 

[S.D.Mills]

A. Flashbacks are rarely worth doing. There's almost always a better way.

B. If you are going to do a flashback in a novel-style format, always switch context where a reader expects it most: at the chapter break. If that means the original "chapter" you planned becomes 3 chapters, so be it.

C. There are a lot of methods of flashback, and often it can be one of the ways a writer develops their own voice and flavor of writing style. Honestly, I think the most use that writing flashbacks has is making the writer better since it forces them to experiment and get out of their comfort zone. But there is one thing that you must do no matter what: ground the reader in the new situation as soon as possible. Unless you are very very very good at flashbacks, you need the reader to know where they are and what is happening fast. I suggest you make sure the reader knows where they have been teleported to within the first two sentences.

 

[JustHANO]

I don’t think ‘flashbacks’ are a good option. Maybe a chapter set in a time of their past but cutting back and forth between past and present like what movies do can ruin pacing. It’s best to express the past through their actions or through interactions and gossip of those around them.

Damn. That why I've been stuck. I'm a full on member of the flashbacks sucks club. I want to make that movie/show type dynamics but I'll see what I can do.