So, you might want to simply flow gently into a nice memory, whereas it's better to jolt into an awful one, as having a flashback to something terrible is often something which catches you unawares. And that can help convey whether it is something awful as a memory, or something lovely and pleasant to remember, without having to rely on the incident itself, or the way you write it to impart its meaning to your character and to the reader. Going into a flashback can be subtle, or in your face. Not a bad idea to try and do that with your writing. If you think about when you have a flashback in real life, it's kind of like how it is often portrayed in movies, with a quick series of images, or a bit of fast-forwarded film, that is to say, because it is a memory, it plays back in a microsecond, rather than in real time, as you remember it in all its cringeworthy, or thrilling glory, depending on whether it's a good or bad memory.

Strictly speaking that would make it more like a daydream, but even so, it can serve the same purpose as a flashback. Generally speaking, you just want to impart the relevant information, however, if it is a pleasant memory, you may want to linger with it a little, and have an excuse to do so. If it is to reveal something important about the character, or the story (and it should be), then you don't want to waste time in the flashback text describing the 'chill wind', or 'the rosy fingers of sunlight', or any of the other terrible cliche descriptions which show up in writing, except in the rare circumstances where the weather is actually the point of the flashback, or perhaps triggers it. There are any number of ways to do it, but there are some things to watch out for.įirst, you need to be completely aware of the purpose of your flashback in the narrative.

Bb flashback examples