The 5 Rules of Writing Effective Flashbacks

1. Find a trigger to ignite a flashback. Think about when you are suddenly pulled into a memory. …
2. Find a trigger to propel a return to the present. …
3. Keep it brief. …
4. Make sure the flashback advances the story. …
5. Use flashbacks sparingly.

How do you write a good flashback?

So if you need a flashback, it’s simple: Write a sentence or two of transition, then do a scene break, then write the flashback, and then do another scene break.



A flashback has three parts:

1. The segue out of the present and into the past.
2. The backstory scene itself.
3. The segue out of the backstory and into the present.

How do you write a flashback example?

For example, you might:

1. Specify the date of your flashback (e.g., “It was a warm August night in 1979.”)
2. Set the flashback apart by using a different tense from the main narrative (e.g., past perfect instead of simple past—“He had been eating far too much chocolate, and his stomach had begun to ache.”)

What are some examples of flashback?

Flashback: Examples and Student Activities

• The narrator tells another character about past events.
• The narrator has a dream about past events.
• The narrator thinks back to past events, revealing the information only to the reader.
• The narrator reads a letter that prompts back to an earlier time.

What is a good sentence for flashback?

Noun The character’s childhood was described in a series of flashbacks. He’s having flashbacks of his days in the war.

How long should a flashback be?

If your flashback is longer than a page or two, it may turn readers off if they haven’t grown attached enough to your characters and your story to care about extra information, like a flashback. Save your flashbacks for a point in the story when your readers should be invested enough to time travel.

How do you start a flashback sentence starter?

You can include clues like:

1. As I looked at my class photograph, a painful memory that I had long buried deep in my subconscious emerged from deep within.
2. Looking at the Christmas card in my hand, I remembered the day that the terrible accident happened.

What does a flashback look like?

A flashback is a vivid experience in which you relive some aspects of a traumatic event or feel as if it is happening right now. This can sometimes be like watching a video of what happened, but flashbacks do not necessarily involve seeing images, or reliving events from start to finish.

What English technique is a flashback?

A flashback interrupts that chronological sequence, the front line action or “present” line of the story, to show readers a scene that unfolded in the past.

What should you not do during a flashback?

People who experience PTSD may often feel jumpy or on edge. They may be easily startled or feel they need to constantly watch out for danger.



Respect their personal space

1. avoid crowding the person.
2. don’t touch or hug them without permission.
3. try not to startle or surprise them.

How do you start a flashback sentence starter?

You can include clues like:

1. As I looked at my class photograph, a painful memory that I had long buried deep in my subconscious emerged from deep within.
2. Looking at the Christmas card in my hand, I remembered the day that the terrible accident happened.

What are flashback techniques?

flashback, in motion pictures and literature, narrative technique of interrupting the chronological sequence of events to interject events of earlier occurrence. The earlier events often take the form of reminiscence. The flashback technique is as old as Western literature.