When writing a work of fiction, an author can take the reader out of the present story and jump into an earlier time period in a character’s life. This narrative tool is called a flashback. Also used in films and television shows, flashbacks give a stor
1. Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction uses both flashback and flash forward to construct his three part film. The movie begins with a flash forward to a restaurant robbery seen from the point of view of the thieves. By the time we return to the same scene again, we realize that these th...
How to Create Mood in a Story: 7 Tips to Build Atmosphere Learn what mood is and how it’s created through helpful exercises and examples from classic and contemporary literature. Read post What Makes an Antinovel? 6 Key Elements and Examples Learn how to write experimental fiction that...
For example, if your protagonist is a recently divorced woman, telling or showing the reader what led to the divorce before your book began is exposition. It’s something that isn’t actually happening in the plot, but that’s important for the reader to know. These background details helps...
In fact, science fiction and fantasy stories often have a lot of exposition at the beginning because the world or time in which the story takes place is so different from our own. This can be tricky, because it can bore readers in those ever-important first few pages. We'll discuss more...
Flashbacks and flash-forwards are scenes that interrupt the flow of the narrative to recount something that has happened in the past or to glimpse what will happen in the future. Unlike foreshadowing, which is subtle and creates anticipation by dropping hints, a flashback or flash-forward increas...
What is the historical context of ''A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man''? What is a flashback? How does memory shape history in The Things They Carried? What year did the events of Left to Tell happen? In Night, what final gift...
or a made-up fantasy location, such as Hogwarts in Harry Potter. The time of a setting can be the past, present, or future and sometimes a story may move around within these times, for example inflashbacksequences. The setting of a story helps to create interest and pleasure for the ...
Other films use flashback more sparingly, which can make its use later on in the film effective to the narrative. Bringing it back to the Caped Crusader, there is a notable flashback scene in Batman Forever which sheds light on Bruce Wayne’s past. As far as this individual film is ...
Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations. 3. Engrossing conflicts Conflict is the lifeblood of an interesting story. It may be the global conflict that gives background and context. For example, the World War ...