Forum Weaving in flashbacks - how?

Hiya, I'm writing a novel in which you follow the protagonist from a third person view, and I have come across a problem. I want to have several flashbacks in the story depicting the protagonist's youth, but I can't seem to weave it into the story.

 

How do you switch from real-time to flashback in a natural way? As it is now, the constant change in time creates a lot of confusion, and makes it hard to follow the actual story.

 

Thankful for any help/suggestions.

Mathias.

 

Hello!

One of my older stories required multiple flashbacks to explain the protagonist's views, and I found that I could incorporate them by having her mind wander often. I would set it up in a way that something would bring her back and the scene would unfold behind her eyes.

Some flashbacks were easily written by just beginning a new paragraph in italic to indicate that it wasn't real-time, but I still made sure it fit with what was occurring.

If you'd like, I would gladly read and review your work and help in any way I can!

A.

I think that you could do something along the lines of-- hypothetical suggestion-- the protagonist meets some farm-worker and engage in conversation with his new pal. Through the dialogue the protagonist can reveal about his own past in his parents' farm, or, alternatively, the protagonist relives these events in his mind in the form of "person says something and the protagonist contemplates about it in connection to his own past"-kind of way.

Excellent suggestions. Whenever I have to incorporate long past events, I do the "character contemplates conversation in relation to past" thing. Use any excuse. 

Flashbacks are definitely tricky! I wouldn't necessarily reveal too much through dialogue. That can come off as forced. I like when objects, places, sounds, smells and such trigger a memory.

I definitely agree that Flashbacks are a relatively tricky technique to use effectively. The method I've been using in my current story "The Veil" is actually that each chapter opens with a modern-period first person narration, but the main body of the chapter is actually a flashback that retells the story.

As for how traditional flashbacks occur, usually the introduction or a character or object can be a successful 'cue' for a flashback to occur. Other things that can cue them can be a modern discussion of a past place or event. The number one thing I've learned (from experience) is that flashbacks BEFORE discussion of the person or topic end up coming off as sloppy.

The Flashbacks should have to do with the chapter right before it. Also keep the flashbacks dedicated to their own chapters. To keep readers interested use the flashbacks to keep readers guessing as well.

What about looking at a movie like MIDNIGHT COWBOY. There are lots of flashbacks in that.

If you are still working on this novel and to those who are still reading this thread, a helpful tip when using flashbacks or jumping over large time gaps:

A very basic method is to introduce literal flashbacks through dreams. Many characters in fiction will tend to start experiencing dreams about their past if they are under stress or unpleasant circumstance. This aids in introducing a characters back story and history, which can almost always turn a drab and dull character into something a little more interesting.

Thanks for asking this because im using flashbacks in my story, and it is tricky trying to incorporate them.