Flashbacks: Fun with Timeline Tampering

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Ratatouille

I don’t use flashbacks because they never really worked for Third-Person Present tense writing.  At least in my mind.  If I’m showing what’s going on now then jumping into the past can make things confusing.  Of course, I have an aversion to writing flashbacks in general.  Let me explain:

Long ago, I was in college and was making friends during my freshman semester.  I didn’t hide the fact that I was a Writing Arts Major and enjoying writing books.  This led to a new friend suggesting we write a story together.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, but quickly went south.  We had characters, but the only description I was given were the actors who were expected to play them in a movie.  I tried my best though.  The writing began with me being told what I should be describing.  Made good time in getting to the end of the first page and then . . . Flashback . . . Wait . . . Put a flashback . . . What?

Yeah, I was told to put a flashback in at the start of the second page even though we were at the start of chapter 1.  There was no transition or explanation as to why this had to be done now.  We stopped writing for the day, but I couldn’t go back to that project and refused to try again.  The paper notes met their end with a can of Dr Pepper and the Word file was lost to a ‘computer crash’.  I was only 18, so this one hit me pretty hard and made me think about the whole thing.  My mind focused on flashbacks and how they’re viewed by others.

People do seem to take them for granted.  They’re a great way to show the past and give background information without an info dump.  Yet, I don’t think people realize how they need to be triggered and can wreck the pacing, especially in a book.  You see them regularly done in certain mediums to the point where you can make a drinking game out of them.  Best example is ‘Family Guy’ when a character talks about a past event in the middle of a conversation, the scene is show, and then they’re back or things have moved on.  The flashback is used as a scene ender at times here, but that’s because it kills all momentum for the present-day story.  So, you can’t go dropping it every time you feel like explaining something.

I always thought the point of a flashback is to inform instead of entertain more than the main story.  I’ve watched some shows where they’ll have a flashback episode or story arc, which is supposed to explain points.  While it does that, it also makes me want to learn more about the past than what I started with.  If you hook a reader so much into the flashback that they get annoyed with it ending then you made a mistake.  Even if you release a short story or book to continue the flashback, you’ve done harm to the current book.  A reader won’t know you’re going further later on, so they’ll be shunted out of the flow and may never get back into it.

This is another reason I’m nervous about using one.  I can simply do the background scenes with a prologue and then write the main story without having to time travel.  The risk feels too high for what I’m writing.  If I need to explain anything, I can have a character figure it out and summarize.  Do people need to see a detailed scene of a dragon being slain and the sword being imbued with its power and hatred?  Not really if it can simply be shown by a character grabbing the weapon, being consumed by the dragon spirit, and declaring that vengeance will be his.  The finer points can be found out in other ways, but might not be necessary.

Again, this is all about style and preference.  Flashbacks simply don’t work out for me at this point.  Maybe I’ll use one later, but I can’t think of any story that needs one.  I do use actual visions of the past that the characters view as specters or can actually interact with, but those aren’t flashbacks.  Those are neat ways to reveal events without having to actually go into the past.  Works with magic and certain technology, so it’s limited to a few genres.  Thankfully, I don’t like straying from those, which is another reason why I don’t really have to worry about this literary tool that much.

So, what do you think of flashbacks?  Ever use them?

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Story Development and Execution Part 9: Writing Action

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Ciao, SEers. Today is part nine of the series: writing action. While this is important for the thriller genre, I mean the more general term, which …

Story Development and Execution Part 9: Writing Action
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Teenager Memes: In Honor of My Son Turning 13

Posted on July 31, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

As mentioned yesterday, my son turned 13 this past week.  I was so busy preparing for his party and trying not to collapse from long Covid that I decided to use today to do an easy ‘meme’ collection post.  Of course, I didn’t realize how memes about teenagers would go:

  • Most I found were about teenage daughters and involved giving attitudes.
  • Many were about adults loving teenagers, which is disturbing.
  • Most that I found about sons dealt with masturbation.

So, this is the best I could do on Google.  I really don’t understand why so many of them sucked.  You’d think teenagers would be a common topic for memes.  Oh well.

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Goal Post: No Real Progress to Report

Posted on July 30, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

I’m not even going to look at what my goals were.  Doubt I made any of them because this week had an unexpected hurdle.  It’s one that may carry through the entire summer from the look of things.

For those who don’t remember or know, I caught Covid at the end of June.  It was a very mild case with fatigue as the biggest symptom.  Since then, I’ve had days where I’m not that focused (brain fog) and feel sleepy halfway through the day.  I was still able to work through those periods to finish Darwin & the Halfling Hunt.  I was ready to handle those again, but things changed last Sunday morning.  Not for the better and things kind of went downhill from there.

So, I woke up feeling off, but testing negative.  Had very little appetite and felt drained of energy.  Still went to a friend’s place to watch ‘Resident Evil’ on Netflix and I was fine by the time I got there.  Kind of tired when I got home, so I didn’t think anything of it.  Then, I woke up feeling like the undead on Monday.  Same on Tuesday and Wednesday was even worse with me wondering if I was dying.  I couldn’t focus on anything, so the little I did write took me 3x the amount it normally would.  The slightest errand would leave me drained and I had a lot to do.  What did this mean?

Well, it looks like I have Long Covid.  This is when the symptoms continue after the infection is over.  A mild case can still lead to a nasty Long Covid period, which I seem to be stuck in.  This was probably amplified by the heat and stress over a few things that are coming up.  Doesn’t help that I’ve run into some people who think I’m faking it.  They won’t tell me what I would gain from it since I’m still doing everything I have to do aside from writing.  The fatigue also triggers my anxiety, so I spend most of the day spiraling into being a mess.  For some reason, it all ends around 9 PM when I feel somewhat normal, but it’s too late to do anything.  I think I’m up for another booster, so I might get one next weekend and see if it helps alleviate some of this.

With all of this in mind, I know I won’t finish Darwin & the Avenging Elf before the end of summer.  I’ll try to get it done before the end of September, but I might have to switch to preparing November blog posts at times too.  Have some shaky topics for that month since I’m trying to do all of this with brain fog.  That’s when you can’t really focus and forget things easily.  For example, I keep forgetting words right after I hear it or write the same sentence twice.  Big reason that the writing is going slow.  Maybe I’ll prep November stuff this coming week and get that done?  Might be too much for my battered mind.

Moving away from covid and writing, my son turned 13 this past Thursday.  He’s officially a teenager, but he’s had that attitude for a while.  I want to say he grew up so fast, but it feels like I’ve been parenting him for decades.  Doing a Mobile Arcade for him and a bunch of kids this morning.  Then pizza and cake.  Tomorrow will be ‘DC League of Super Pets’ and video games will be played on the home system.  Last night, we got his godfather from the train station, which was a surprise appearance.  So, ‘Super Smash Bros’ will get some attention.  As long as my son doesn’t hold us hostage and make us watch hours of him playing ‘Pokemon Legends: Arceus’.  We’ll see what happens.

Crud, I walked away and forgot about this.  Where was I?

I’ve got nothing else going on.  Just hoping to dive back into writing whenever I get the energy and mental clarity.  Things may improve once the birthday party planning is done and I have fewer things on my mind.  For now, I’ll keep going through my television show list since I lack the energy to do much else.  I finished ‘Fate/Grand Order- Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia’, which was . . . something.  This overall series was recommended to me, but I can’t get fully into it for some reason.  I jumped to ‘Granblue Fantasy’ once I was done.  This is a fun adventure story based on a video game, which I may have watched some of years ago.  If it was ever on Netflix then I probably did and just forgot.  Oh well, I’m enjoying it again.  Not sure what I’ll go after next.  Maybe I’ll rewatch one of the shows that just finished dubbing season 2.  I would watch season 3 of ‘Harley Quinn’, but it won’t be entirely out until mid-September and I want to binge.

Now, goals of the week?

  1. Son’s birthday party.
  2. ‘DC League of Super Pets’ tomorrow!
  3. Write as much of  Darwin & the Avenging Elf as possible.
  4. Rest and try to get through the chronic fatigue.
  5. Get a covid booster next weekend.
  6. Puzzle time to keep mind active.
  7. Biking if feel up to it.
  8. Try to plan stuff for the non-camp week I have my son.
  9. Maybe a few November posts.
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Starting at the End: Reverse Chronology

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Don’t hold the term in the title against me.  I couldn’t find a consistent label for when a story starts at the end.  ‘Reverse chronology’ caught my eye a few times and I liked the sound of it.  Makes sense since you’re going backwards even though that’s not entirely true here.  You aren’t exactly running backwards here.  So, what are you doing?

This is simply when the first scene is the finale.  Even if there’s a little bit afterwards, the resolution is now known to the audience.  They have a general idea of the hero at least winning regardless of them either dying or appearing to die.  A twist in the epilogue doesn’t change the placement of the resolution here.  For example, ‘John Wick’ up there uses this tactic perfectly.  You don’t even know if he really won or is still on the run, but can’t go any further.  All you know is that it looks like his adventure is over.  Then, it goes back to the beginning to show what led to this outcome.

You may think this eliminates all of the stakes because you know the hero will survive what they’re about the face.  At least until you see the opening scene starting up.  This may be true on some level, but there’s a new type of suspense.  Mostly, you don’t really know when that opening scene will strike.  After all, you don’t really know if it’s the ending or a curveball.  It could be in medias res and there will be a recovery part before the final battle like in ‘Rocky III’.  Minus the in medias res with that example, but I hope you get my point about the type of suspense.  It’s only when we know for sure that the beginning is the ending that the tension vanishes, but that’s on a second viewing or reading.  So, it hits the mark for the first time.

I like these types of stories because of the mystery they cause.  Every scene can lead to the finale, especially if it’s an action one and the opening showed the hero having been brutalized.  You look for signs and clues about things happening, so you become engrossed in the details.  Character’s words and things in the background get more attention than they would if you were going from start to end.  It creates a sense of hypersensitivity that can really payoff.  Helps to put a few clues in there even they can’t be noticed until a second watch.  Easter eggs can really help a story like this get more longevity instead of being a one-time enjoyment.

Similar to in medias res, plotters and pantsers can both use this without much of a problem.  Plotters have their stories set up, so they just move a copy of the opening scene to the point where they need it at the end.  It’s up to the author to either make it a copy/paste or write it in a new way, but both work depending on how the rest of the story was written.  For pantsers, this gives them a target that they have no choice, but to reach at some point.  They don’t have to go straight as the crow flies here.  It’s possible to roam around and come at it from a surprising angle.  This can actually increase tension if some scenes look like they’re about to lead to the known ending.  Both groups can also go back to the opener and change it up if they find that the middle doesn’t really bring them to that exact point.  We aren’t perfect, so adjusts need to be made at times.

So, what do you think about starting a story with the finale?

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How to Use Prologues, Part 5, Backstory Delivery

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Hi SErs! It’s a day of Harmony here at Story Empire 🙂 Today, I’d like to talk about Backstory Delivery in a prologue. Here’s a link to the previous …

How to Use Prologues, Part 5, Backstory Delivery
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Poetry Day: Booting Up

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Yahoo Image Search

(Anybody else relate to this one?)

My laptop wakes like a drunken snail.

I only need to check my email.

A shadow of its former speed.

Does it not know my urgent need?

I rarely add a program to its brain.

So I do not understand this drain.

The battery is nearly dead.

I hate that blinking light of red.

It is still scanning files for threats.

I don’t know why it frets.

My machine is too slow to catch a virus.

The thing crashes like a digital Icarus.

It has been an hour since I turned it on.

This paperweight won’t load until the dawn.

I think I will go out to play

And check my email another day.

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In Medias Res: Starting a Story in the Middle

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Google Image Search

This is what caused me to think up this week’s topic: IN MEDIAS RES.  I’d never heard of it even though I’m sure I’ve seen it.  This is very popular in film noir, but it shows up in plenty of other mediums.  So, what is it?

In medias res is when a story starts in the middle of the action.  Typically, it is an action section that goes for a bit until the previous events can be shown.  This helps in drawing in a reader and making them very curious.  For example, Odyssey starts with Odysseus captured by Calypso and he tells her his adventures.  This storytelling is what shows us everything that happened prior to him becoming a captive.  Eventually, the story catches back up with the beginning and then it proceeds into the final act.  So, you’re really switching Acts 1 and 2 around here.

As you can see, the events that happened prior to the beginning need to be explained in some fashion.  If you only do it with an info dump then your middle will be more of a true beginning.  So, you can utilize flashbacks that are being told through the point of view of your protagonist.  In the example above, it’s Odysseus telling his story to Calypso.  Having the protagonist tell the story to another person is fairly common.  Other ways to do it is simply having them remember stuff that led up to their current situation.  Cartoons and movies love that one.  Many times you get the scene freeze and a comical ‘I bet you’re wondering how I got here’ voiceover.  It still works as a transition.

In medias res can work pretty well for either plotters or pantsers.  The former can make their outlines and simply move a few things around.  The story still works and they now have an initial goal to reach before heading for the finale.  With a pantser, they don’t have to make a plan, but now they have a general direction to go.  This can create some level of reigning in to avoid going so far off the plot that the story doesn’t hold water.  Now, you can wander off and the readers will be okay with it since they know you’re heading in the right direction at some point.

While this technique is mostly found in epics and film noir, you can find more mainstream versions of it.  Two examples are:

  1. Deadpool–  Breaking of the 4th wall can lead to in medias res.  The action starts with him having his powers and going after targets.  Then, he starts talking to the audience and this leads to the flashback/origin part.  Eventually, the story catches up and we move into the final act.  This is a fairly common method since comedy and talking directly to the audience helps with the transition.
  2. Star Wars: A New Hope–  I did read that there are some debates on this one.  I’m leaning towards maybe, but not because it’s labeled as Episode IV.  You can do that and never touch on the previous episodes for influence.  I mean, we spent how many years with only Episodes IV-VII before I-III came out?  No, the reason this movie can be In Medias Res is that you start right in the action with Princess Leia trying to get away with the Death Star plans.  The events of the movie have already begun and are at a higher pitch than if we began with them doing the actual theft.  Yet, we never really flashback or do anything to jump to that previous part of the story.  We aren’t counting ‘Rogue One’ here.  You technically have the middle of the Skywalker Saga, but the start of its own story.  So, things can get shaky here.

It is surprising how often we see this and never think twice.  Makes me wonder how often we do this in casual storytelling.  Not actual writing, but like when we tell a person about an experience or idea.  Can we get away with starting in the middle of that when it’s not really a story?  It’s just relaying an idea.  Might be going in the wrong direction at this point.

What do you think of in medias res?  Ever use it?

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Things in Books that Annoy Readers

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

Hello SEers, It’s John again. Happy Hump Day. Today I want to talk about things that annoy readers. In doing so, maybe we can all avoid putting …

Things in Books that Annoy Readers
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Teaser Tuesday: Everyone Wants Darwin

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Charles Yallowitz

As I said, the action scenes are different for Darwin.  He runs away and causes chaos a lot, so you won’t get tons of head-t0-head battles.  That’s just not his style.  So, I hope this gives you a decent idea of how he operates.  Also that Darwin just can’t catch a break in his adventure.

*****

Too panicked to think clearly, Darwin is unable to escape Zynth and the guards, who are slowed by the citizens. The halfling shouts his spells over his shoulder, but he cannot figure out how to aim without looking and always puts random people to sleep. His wand of angry growls is gripped tightly in one hand, which is constantly swinging. Everything from wagons to a terrified woman’s shoe unleash rage-filled noises, which startle the nervous populace. The chaos helps Darwin weave through the legs of the taller people, who unwittingly get in the way of the guards. For a second, the halfling thinks he hears Zynth shouting for the citizens to go inside, but the elf’s voice is drowned out by an entire building growling in fury. He risks glancing over his shoulder and yelps at how close the guards are since he is slowing down. Screaming sleep at the top of his lungs, Darwin knocks out two of the pursuing soldiers and twelve bystanders. Three of his victims fall into Zynth’s path and he lands hard on his face with his fingers grazing his target’s leg.

Scared by the faint contact, Darwin sprints away with the determined guard scrambling after him while trying to get to his feet. Coming to an intersection, the halfling runs for a corner only to spot a spearman waiting. He makes a sudden turn and heads for the other side of the street in time to narrowly avoid getting caught. Ducking under a flying tackle from Zynth, Darwin veers away from a woman swinging a sticky net. Her weapon catches the elf by the arm and he is yanked back at the same time she is pulled off-balance. Both guards collapse into heaps while the halfling tries to go back the way he came. Seeing more soldiers heading his way, he closes his eyes and windmills his arms as if throwing his sleep spells. Every shout knocks out a handful of people until those still standing are tripping over the slumbering forms.

Hearing a booted footstep behind him, Darwin snaps out of his attacking and blindly runs away. He hears a muttered curse from whoever had tried to catch him, which is followed by the crack of the person breaking their nose on the ground. Unwilling to look back, he charges into the thickening crowd and moves among their legs as if they were a tightly packed forest. Women scream whenever he scrambles beneath their skirts and men stomp if they notice him getting too close. A guard hiding within the crowd nearly grabs Darwin, but a puff of fur hits him in the face to become an angry ferret. The terrified warrior shrieks and flails, which creates enough space for the halfling to get by and dive between two chuckling elves. He continues to crawl and slip his way through the citizens, whose curiosity at the noises is helping him gain some distance from the guards. There are still shouts for people to grab a suspicious halfling, but the confusion makes it impossible for anyone to know who they are talking about. A few bystanders who try to catch Darwin are put to sleep the instant they make contact. The spell always go wider than he intends and several of the people standing nearby collapse along with the real target.

To his surprise, the halfling abruptly comes out of the crowd and finds himself in an open park. The green grass and trees seem out of place among the buildings until he spots a river flowing out of the ground. A white marble cap covers the opening and he notices matching slabs running along the sides, each one topped with a railing. Mesmerized by the curious sight, he wanders over to the edge and gazes into the water. Large catfish can be seen beneath the surface and one rises up to spit at the halfling. The force is enough to knock Darwin away from the railing a second before he hears a metal ping. Unsure if he really heard the noise, the halfling turns to head back to the buildings, but pauses when an object bounces against his heel. Glancing at the ground, he finds a feathered dart embedded in the dirt where his foot had been a moment earlier.

“You are under arrest!” a voice bellows.

“This one is mine, Wendell!” a woman snaps from the other direction.

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