Back story versus flashbacks…

They’re very similar but differ enough that I thought I’d go over the two concepts. A flashback is a short narrative where authors, often through one of their characters, thinks back to a previous situation. It’s short. It can be used anywhere in fiction, often to relieve tension, but it can be used in non-fiction too—for example, in a memoir. Back story is a longer narrative that authors often use when new characters are introduced, but again, chapters of it might be in a memoir.

Length is i...