what tense is best to present a flashback

[Devora]

i'm specifically having the issue where i'm starting a story In Media Res but i do bring in the the chronological beginning as a flashback in the context that the MC is thinking about it in deep thought.

i don't want the past tense of the main narrative to clash with the flashback/beginning, but i'm not sure what to use.

 

[Finchbearer]

Use of italics? Using a different tone?

 

[Finchbearer]

Use of italics? Using a different tone?

Oh, in the past tense, unless it’s like a vivid flashback as if that person is experiencing it the present tense, like a resurfacing trauma.

 

[skip.knox]

Pluperfect.
It can get clumsy at times, especially in extended use, but that's the grammar choice.

 

[Mad Swede]

Well, it depends on how realistic you want this to be.

Trust me when I write that flashbacks don't occur in deep thought - that would be a memory or a recollection. In my personal experience flashbacks are triggered by things around me, either sounds or words or something I see or feel.

When I write flashbacks for a character they are always in the present tense, because that is how I (and many other veterans) experience flashbacks. When I'm writing about memories or recollections I write in the past perfect tense (or pluperfect, as skip.knox refers to it).

 

[Devora]

Well, it depends on how realistic you want this to be.

Trust me when I write that flashbacks don't occur in deep thought - that would be a memory or a recollection. In my personal experience flashbacks are triggered by things around me, either sounds or words or something I see or feel.

When I write flashbacks for a character they are always in the present tense, because that is how I (and many other veterans) experience flashbacks. When I'm writing about memories or recollections I write in the past perfect tense (or pluperfect, as skip.knox refers to it).

basically the MC's deep thought is going to be a vehicle for telling the beginning of story in a more narrative way than just a few text blurbs (except when necessary for brevity). I want to do it this way because I think the present time in the story might be a better start to introduce the conflict before introduce the beginning of the plot to catch up the reader and then bring it back to the present when he's taken out of his thoughts by a friend.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

We use present tense. We haven't had any flashbacks, yet, but we will and we've already used dreams as a plot device, so anytime anyone is dreaming on screen it changes tenses. Definitely catches the readers' attention and makes it very clear that we, for that moment, aren't in Kansas anymore.

 

[Devora]

We use present tense. We haven't had any flashbacks, yet, but we will and we've already used dreams as a plot device, so anytime anyone is dreaming on screen it changes tenses. Definitely catches the readers' attention and makes it very clear that we, for that moment, aren't in Kansas anymore.

most of my story is written in a past tense so i don't know how i could make present tense work

 

[Penpilot]

For me, the first thing to key in on is the transition. I try to make sure it's not jarring, with or without changes in tense.

The next thing I do, depending on the length of the flashback, is write the first 1-3 sentences of the flashback in past perfect. Then the body of the flashback is written in past tense. And finally, the last 1-3 sentences of the flashback is written in past perfect as I transition back into the present time and past tense.

Here's a heavy-handed example.

As Fred ate his sandwich in the mall food court, he listened to a woman grumbling as she fussed with her kid who was making a lot of noise and refusing to eat. The kid was just being difficult, but then again, so was he at that age. But the consequences... well... they were worse back then, especially at dinner.

Fred's Dad had glared at Fred's brothers and screamed, "It's hard enough at work, for Jesus Christ. I don't need this crap at home, too."

Fred had kept his eyes down, not from fear or shame. He had wanted to see what belt his Dad had been wearing. It was the one with the big f-cken buffalo head. Bloody horns always left punctures. But he knew what he had to do. He could take it. He wasn't sure his brothers could. Also, f-ck him.

He started by knocking his fork off the table. Then, he made sure to knock his chair over when he climbed down to pick it up. That put dynamite on to the table. When he got the fork back on to the table and his ass back into the chair, he lit the proverbial match.

"Is that broccoli? I ain't eating--"

The flames had made contact, and the fuse had been quick. The consequences had been... well... as expected. And the burns have lasted a lifetime.

Fred made eye contact with the woman as her kid began making a scene. She mouthed the word, "Sorry." Fred shrugged. She had nothing to be sorry for.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

most of my story is written in a past tense so i don't know how i could make present tense work

My team writes in 3rd person, past tense, limited. This is what it looks like, from our first book. This is a character intro and the first dream.

-------


“I don’t know why I’m doing this.” Etienne swirls the dark beer in his coarse, earthen mug, breathing in the yeasty aroma as he takes another deep drink. God, but he loves Bess’s beer. She moves behind him and he feels her warmth against his back, her strong, calloused hands stroking his hair off his face, away from his neck. His hair is so much longer here, as it was then, when they were married.

“Because you love him.” She speaks English, but strange to this modern time, her consonants more guttural, truer to their Germanic roots, each sound tongued in full. He loves the way she speaks. He has not spoken English like this in centuries.

“Love him?” Etienne snorts his denial. “I don’t even know him.”

“Not Senán.”

Etienne falls into silence and lets it draw out. He can never lie to her. He can lie to himself just fine. After over a thousand years, he has gotten very good at lying to himself. But never to her. Not even when she had asked him if she was dying.

Bess’s wonderful brown hands move from his hair to his neck, kneading his muscles until she draws a throaty groan of pleasure from him. “Because he needs to find his friend.”

He remains silent under her hands.

“He can’t do it alone.”

He reaches back, slips his hands over hers. “Bess—”

Etienne awoke with her name still sounding in the thinning darkness and quickly closed his eyes again, struggling to hold on to that last wisp of dream. It slipped away like smoke through his fingers.

It had been a good one. He could feel her warm hands—she always had such warm hands—tucked away like little brown birds in his own. He could still smell her, the way she always smelled of smoke and babies and sweat and sunshine, of fresh-tilled earth and baking bread. Pain, sharp enough to steal breath, pierced his chest.

He could almost remember her face.

 

[pmmg]

i don't want the past tense of the main narrative to clash with the flashback/beginning, but i'm not sure what to use.

I feel like I got lost in this post with the jumping between past and present tense in the conversation.

The only thing you need to accomplish is that the transition is understood. The voice or POV used for this does not matter, it is just a stylistic choice.

There are many ways to accomplish the transition, and for you it seems like it is just the character thinking back. If you just say, John closed his eyes and thought back... That is probably enough of a signal to the reader that what follows is from his thoughts. To return, just bring it back.

John thought...

blah blah blah.

John stopped thinking.

If you want use a different tense, and if you specifically want to use present tense, it will still flow better if the reader knows the transition has occurred.

It might be easier to offer direct comments if an example was posted.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Don't overthink it too much. It doesn't actually matter all that much, as long as it's clear to the reader what's going on and you're consistent throughout your story. The most common methods have been mentioned here. Pick one and stick with it, or combine multiple.

What you pick is mainly a stylistic choice. Writing in Italics is fine, though it might get a bit anoying for longer stretches. Shifting from past to present tense works great, though it can be a bit jarring for the reader the first time it happens. That's not necessarily a bad thing. If it's jarring for the character as well then it fits. I personally also like Penpilot 's example of a sentence or two in past perfect, followed by regular prose, and the a few more in past perfect as you exit the episode.

 

[The Dark One]

I would always go for present tense, with also a stylistic change that shows clearly it is a recollection.