How Do Flashbacks Work?

A scene or sequence in which the timeline is changed to an earlier moment in the narrative is the traditional definition of a flashback. Flashbacks can be used to give solutions to important puzzles, show how a character came to be who they are now, or provide historical background for the present.

Literature has a long tradition of using flashbacks. Even Homer's The Odyssey, which begins in media res, or in the middle of events, employs the technique of having Odysseus tell the Phaeacians half of his experience.

However, to effectively use flashbacks, you must be careful. If you don't, you run the risk of snatching the reader away from the narrative and dropping them in the middle of a snooze fest.

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