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Exercise #6: Craft
Posted 6/6/03
There is an old joke:
First man: "Tell it to me from the beginning."
Second man: "Well, I was born...."
The best stories seem to start in the middle of the action. There isn't enough patience in most readers to stand still while we talk about the history of our characters and why they're in the situation they're in right *now.*
However, often some history is required for the present storyline to make sense. Enter the flashback.
Flashbacks show action which happened in the past, giving meaning to the events of the present. In television and film, flashbacks can be separated from the present in many ways; sometimes the screen fades out and back in to prior events (noticeable, no doubt, by the fact the leading bald man now has a full head of hair) or a camera zoom can make it seem as if we've gone inside the lead actor's mind.
In writing, it's harder. Good written flashbacks have a clear beginning and a clear end. They use past perfect tense (had gone instead of went, would have been instead of would be, etc) at the beginning, and move into standard past tense once the scene has been situated in the past. Long flashbacks may have past perfect tense interspersed throughout to remind the reader they're still in the past. The clear ending of a flashback will bring the reader back to the present action.
For this exercise, your character is sorting through some of his/her stuff and finds an old photo album. It belongs to the character, but they'd forgotten about it until now. Pick one of the pictures your character is viewing and flash us back to that time. Then, bring us back to the present.
Word limit: 1200
Please use the subject line:
SUB: Exercise #6/yourname
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