How to Write a Flashback

Written well, a flashback can give your readers insight into a character and add depth to your story.

Done poorly, it can feel out of place, forced, and worse—cliched.

A flashback constitutes an interruption of your main onstage present story to depict events from the past.

If you flash back, you must have a concrete reason, and including that backstory must move your story forward.

Some flashbacks shouldn’t be flashbacks at all. They should be written in real time and sequence, fleshed out in a...