Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Exposition: flashbacks
Flashbacks are mini-scenes or full scenes interrupting the advance of the story to reveal information to the reader about the backstory, the character, or the theme. Flashbacks can be set off from the main story in a separate chapter or even a different font. Most often they are written like any other scene in the story, except they are bracketed at the beginning and end by a couple of had verbs sliding the reader into and out of the distant past.
The flashback, like any other form of exposition, works best when the writer understands what it can and cannot accomplish. The flashback can reveal information to the reader. It can reveal the character's inner self to the reader. It cannot motivate the character through whose viewpoint the flashback occurs. (If it could, it would have already.)
While the expositional details conveyed in the flashback may be of importance to the writer, it's the drama in the scene that's important to the reader. It benefits the writer to adopt the same priority. That's because flashbacks stop the forward thrust of the main story. To keep the reader's attention focused on what's going to happen next, the flashback needs the dynamic tension created by a protagonist, an objective, and conflict.
That's the same reason that, when at all possible, flashbacks should be avoided in the beginning or first three chapters of a story, when it's important to raise questions. Exposition answers questions, and when presented too early via a flashback scene, answers questions the reader may not have asked yet. The exception to this occurs when the information is both--
Then it's better to get it over with as quickly as possible. The prologue scene in Finding Nemo is a classic example. Even without the opening flashback, it would have been readily apparent that Marlin is overprotective because of some tragedy in his past. However, the details are not of the nature to provide a turning point later in the story. By tackling the exposition efficiently and head-on, the writers secured the audience's understanding of Marlin's personality flaws. After knowing what happened, no one could dislike him for being overprotective.
Most of the time, though, flashbacks work best as short scenes (three pages or less) planted intermittently throughout Act 2 and Act 3. In the movie Secondhand Lions, a story about a young boy abandoned in the care of two eccentric uncles, there are four flashback scenes. The first occurs at the beginning of Act 2, and answers a question raised earlier in Act 1 about Uncle Hub's sleepwalking habits. At the same time, it raises new questions as it unfurls a swashbuckling subplot.
Rather than stopping an action scene with a flashback, the writer wisely reserved the flashbacks to spice up the quieter lulls in the story. For example, the second flashback happens when young Walter and his uncle Garth are sitting in a hospital waiting room with nothing else to do.
Something else that's important about the flashbacks in Secondhand Lions is that they ultimately impact and intersect with the immediate story, like a subplot. After the fourth and final flashback, Walter understands Uncle Hub's death wish. He begs his uncle to stay alive and raise him into adulthood. This impacts both characters' immediate character arcs--their internal journeys. Walter has also come to understand where his eccentric uncles got their wealth, which contributes to the external goal his mother urged upon him.
Next, using exposition to twist the plot.
(To be continued...)
The scent of lilacs reminded her of her sixteenth summer. (IMMEDIATE CHARACTER MOTIVATION EVOKING THE FLASHBACK.)
(FLASHBACK BEGINS) Her father had brought home fireworks to celebrate the Fourth of July. As night fell, she had gotten into an argument with her younger brother over a string of firecrackers...
The flashback, like any other form of exposition, works best when the writer understands what it can and cannot accomplish. The flashback can reveal information to the reader. It can reveal the character's inner self to the reader. It cannot motivate the character through whose viewpoint the flashback occurs. (If it could, it would have already.)
While the expositional details conveyed in the flashback may be of importance to the writer, it's the drama in the scene that's important to the reader. It benefits the writer to adopt the same priority. That's because flashbacks stop the forward thrust of the main story. To keep the reader's attention focused on what's going to happen next, the flashback needs the dynamic tension created by a protagonist, an objective, and conflict.
That's the same reason that, when at all possible, flashbacks should be avoided in the beginning or first three chapters of a story, when it's important to raise questions. Exposition answers questions, and when presented too early via a flashback scene, answers questions the reader may not have asked yet. The exception to this occurs when the information is both--
- vital to understanding why the character acts the way he does, and
- wouldn't provide a surprise twist if revealed later.
Then it's better to get it over with as quickly as possible. The prologue scene in Finding Nemo is a classic example. Even without the opening flashback, it would have been readily apparent that Marlin is overprotective because of some tragedy in his past. However, the details are not of the nature to provide a turning point later in the story. By tackling the exposition efficiently and head-on, the writers secured the audience's understanding of Marlin's personality flaws. After knowing what happened, no one could dislike him for being overprotective.
Most of the time, though, flashbacks work best as short scenes (three pages or less) planted intermittently throughout Act 2 and Act 3. In the movie Secondhand Lions, a story about a young boy abandoned in the care of two eccentric uncles, there are four flashback scenes. The first occurs at the beginning of Act 2, and answers a question raised earlier in Act 1 about Uncle Hub's sleepwalking habits. At the same time, it raises new questions as it unfurls a swashbuckling subplot.
Rather than stopping an action scene with a flashback, the writer wisely reserved the flashbacks to spice up the quieter lulls in the story. For example, the second flashback happens when young Walter and his uncle Garth are sitting in a hospital waiting room with nothing else to do.
Something else that's important about the flashbacks in Secondhand Lions is that they ultimately impact and intersect with the immediate story, like a subplot. After the fourth and final flashback, Walter understands Uncle Hub's death wish. He begs his uncle to stay alive and raise him into adulthood. This impacts both characters' immediate character arcs--their internal journeys. Walter has also come to understand where his eccentric uncles got their wealth, which contributes to the external goal his mother urged upon him.
Next, using exposition to twist the plot.
(To be continued...)
