So I've written a plot for a creative writing piece but I want to include flashbacks. What are some effective ways to include flashbacks? And how would I be able to show that it's in the past as I'm slightly confused about this bit
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Creative writing (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Sambam429
- Start date
Unless you use them adeptly, flashbacks are a great way to bore or irritate the reader. The best example by far is Naruto.
If you think there is a solid case for using flashbacks, it's best to adhere to a consistent structure - e.g. alternating paragraphs jump back to a past time. A lot of people use italics but I feel this is a clunky convention, plus you can't typeset in an exam anyway. You can use tense to discriminate between past and present: "I head to the corner store" vs "I headed to the corner store". Present tense doesn't always have to correspond with the present either, you can apply it to the flashbacks. But it provides an easy way to determine between the two.
Or make it clear via a big discrepancy in setting, presence of different characters, et c.
My personal favourite is to use dialogue and direct speech to present past experiences. But as I said, be careful with flashbacks. A lot of the time, like using dialogue instead, you can use something else and get a greater effect. Hope that helps.
If you think there is a solid case for using flashbacks, it's best to adhere to a consistent structure - e.g. alternating paragraphs jump back to a past time. A lot of people use italics but I feel this is a clunky convention, plus you can't typeset in an exam anyway. You can use tense to discriminate between past and present: "I head to the corner store" vs "I headed to the corner store". Present tense doesn't always have to correspond with the present either, you can apply it to the flashbacks. But it provides an easy way to determine between the two.
Or make it clear via a big discrepancy in setting, presence of different characters, et c.
My personal favourite is to use dialogue and direct speech to present past experiences. But as I said, be careful with flashbacks. A lot of the time, like using dialogue instead, you can use something else and get a greater effect. Hope that helps.
strawberrye
Premium Member
Usually, you may choose to use a set of Asterix by themselves on a separate line to separate the past from the present, and shift between them, or when you are typing it up, usually you may choose to use cursive writing to differentiate the past from the present. But at the end of the day, you need to focus on answering the given question and having a very simple plot, more important than condensing different types of narrative devices in a short story