Oh what a wonderful resource the internet is for writers. Of course I regularly buy books about writing, but sometimes I just want a quick answer to something that’s going on in my WIP. Today’s issue was backstory.
In the whole media res mode, after reading over and over again about how important that first part of the manuscript is and how it needs to hook the reader and then not let up, I chopped out the first four chapters of the WIP. Ouch. I got right to the dead body. Bam.
It was liberating, exciting, and totally writerly! It also left me with a huge backstory hole. The new first chapter has a sequence of scenes where the characters now have insufficient motivation for what they do.
So, some judicious use of backstory seemed to be in order and I had thought that I might try a brief flashback. That’s where the wonderful internet resources come in and I thought I’d share them.
Anatomy of a Flashback by Peter Selgin
Mastering the Long Flashback by Anna Staniszewski
Mastering the Short Flashback by Anna Staniszewski
Short Story Flashbacks by Anna Staniszewski
All About Backstory by Rachelle Gardner
Fatal Backstory by Darcy Pattison
Writing Flashbacks by Darcy Pattison
Ask the editor: 7 techniques for a dynamite plot by Alan Rinzler
Ask the editor: Tips for blending in the backstory by Alan Rinzler
My take-away: Try a mini-flashback. I kept it to one four-sentence paragraph. I showed what motivated it. I departed from a strong scene. I summarized the past, instead of reenacting it. One sentence with the word “would” got me into the flashback and one sentence got me out. Done.
Does it work? I think so, but I’ll leave it up to my beta reader to decide!
Do you have any flashback techniques that you like?
Do you use flashbacks at all?
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