Provide information about a character’s past that sheds light on their current actions, beliefs, or attitudes (such as revealing a past trauma or other formative experience in the character’s life). Give context or information about events that are happening during the present plot (such as an important clue to a mystery plot). Helping the world of the story feel deeper and richer (e. g. , providing historical background for the setting of a fantasy story).
If you feel you must provide past information in order for the start of the story to make sense, simply begin the story at a past point in time and then skip forward to the main timeframe. Avoid using flashbacks during intense action scenes, since they can slow down the action and make it feel choppy.
Don’t feel confined to writing your flashback in the past tense. If your main timeframe is written in the simple past, you might make the flashback feel more immediate and engaging by putting it in the present tense. For example: “Harold lifted the perfume bottle to his nose, feeling the brittle paper of the label beneath his fingers. That smell . . . It’s 1922. His mother sits at her vanity, brushing her hair. The room smells faintly of oranges and vanilla. ”
Maybe you want to show how your character came to pursue their current career. Instead of giving a lengthy account of how their interests developed, show a single moment that inspired them. For example, if your character is an archaeologist, your flashback might describe them visiting a museum as a child and being awed and captivated by a particular artifact.
For example, instead of setting a flashback at some vague point during your character’s childhood, you might set it in August, a few days before their 6th birthday. It can also help to think about how specific details might differ between your flashback and the present day. Do your characters look, act, or speak differently? How has the setting changed? Is the cultural context different?[5] X Research source
Specify the date of your flashback (e. g. , “It was a warm August night in 1979. ”) 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. ”) State overtly in the text that your point-of-view character is remembering a past event. (E. g. , “Harold was suddenly gripped by a memory—he saw his father silhouetted in the doorway, holding the cat in his arms. ”)
For example: “At the sound of Wilfred’s voice, Bob froze. It was all coming back to him. Wilfred was standing beside him on the corner of 59th and Strauss. An icy, driving rain was falling, and neither of them had an umbrella. ” For longer works, such as novels, you can also separate flashbacks into their own chapters, alternating with chapters set in the present timeline.
For example, instead of saying, “Bertha remembered the time when she fell off her bike going down a hill,” you could write, “Bertha remembered the feeling of her blood rushing to her temples, the tightness in the pit of her stomach. One moment she was flying down the hill at what felt like an impossible speed. The next, she was in the air, and the hard asphalt was rushing up to meet her. ”
For example, instead of saying, “Bertha remembered the time when she fell off her bike going down a hill,” you could write, “Bertha remembered the feeling of her blood rushing to her temples, the tightness in the pit of her stomach. One moment she was flying down the hill at what felt like an impossible speed. The next, she was in the air, and the hard asphalt was rushing up to meet her. ”
For example, maybe your character is afraid of water. You could flash back to a terrifying moment a few years earlier when she nearly drowned. A flashback can also reveal key information about the plot. For example, perhaps your character is a detective at a crime scene. She might see a key piece of evidence, such as a hat left behind by the suspect, and then flash back to a memory of seeing a man wearing the same hat.
Even if it’s not spelled out explicitly for the audience, you can indicate when the flashback takes place in the script (e. g. , after the scene heading, you might say, “It is 10 years earlier. Julio is 17. ”)
For example, you might start the flashback with a scene heading like: “FLASHBACK—EXT. SIGMUND’S CHILDHOOD HOME, DAY. ” Label the end of the flashback, too. You could use a scene heading such as “BACK TO PRESENT DAY—INT. SIGMUND’S DINING ROOM, NIGHT. ”
Include superimposed text to appear on the screen that clarifies the timeframe of the flashback (e. g. , “SUPER: Esmond’s 30th birthday, 10 years earlier. ”). Describe differences in the appearance of the characters and/or setting that indicate the passage of time. For example, if the main action takes place in summer, a snowy backdrop will clearly indicate that the flashback takes place in a different season.
For example, your character might see a trout on ice in the grocery store and stop to look at it. The scene then transitions to a memory of a fishing trip where she caught a gigantic trout.
“Martha puts the trout into her cooler. She stares at the gigantic fish on the ice, awed by her catch. Faintly, she hears someone say, ‘May I help you, ma’am?’” BACK TO PRESENT DAY—INT. GROCERY STORE. Martha looks up from the fish on ice behind the glass of the display counter. The GROCER is smiling at her, waiting for an answer. ”
