Looking backward I

There are two important things to know about flashbacks: how to do them, and when to do them. Both things can be trickier to figure out than they look.

FIrst, a definition: as far as I'm concerned, flashbacks are a way of conveying some background/backstory information as if it were happening "now". The central story that is being told, or the central problem to be resolved, is in the story-present, and the flashback is usually just an  illuminating scene or memory from the past. When an...