Flashbacks er en populær litterær teknikk for forfattere å bruke når du starter en historie i media res (i midten av ting), for å legge til drama eller spenning, eller å fylle leseren inn på viktig informasjon.
Examples of flashbacks - using flashback in your writing classroom activity
Storyboard Tekst
I found myself outside of the castle, with only the moon to guide me. I had arrived, but I had no recollection of how I got there. I felt my face, and the bruises were fresh. I looked down at my arm. “SHAME” was written in large letters across it, and suddenly, I realized I couldn’t speak. I didn’t have a voice!
~~~
SHAME
I had been walking through the village, quietly enjoying the sights and smells of the local marketplace. It was a beautiful spring day, and the village was in a celebratory mood after the long winter.
Flashback serves to reveal: plot and foreshadowing
ARMOR
Suddenly, I heard shouting from within a nearby alley. I quietly crept over to investigate, and found two men arguing heatedly. One was an average-looking man in royal dress; the other was a man with a funny cap and robe. The man in the cap raised his arm at the royally-dressed man and made a slight movement with a long stick. There was a flash, and in his place was a frog!
I must have shouted in surprise because the next thing I knew, the man in the cap was whirling towards me. I yelled at him that what he had done was a crime-- it was shameful! In our beautiful city, how could he do such a thing? The man sneered and raised his stick towards me. The end of it glowed with an evil red phosphorescence.
I jumped, and the red glow missed me by inches. I began to run, crashing through the market and knocking over carts. I could hear the man on my heels, zapping his magic wand at me as I dodged. Finally, I felt an electric tingling sensation hit the back of my head. I fell, and all around me was black. I could hear a man mumbling, “Shame me, will you? Put me in a dunce cap will you? Oh no, never again!”
When I awoke in front of the castle, I realized I would never be able to scold anyone again. The wizard had taken my voice. I don’t know why “shame” had made him so angry, but I knew I would have to find him and get my voice back. This time, though, I would need backup. I knew where to find it: the dragon in the Hidden Cave.