Flashback/Flashforward

What Are Flashback and Flash Forward?

A flashbacks occurs when the writer decides to insert details from the past into a present narrative in order to provide necessary plot information or insight into a character’s motivation. A flashback may show pivotal scenes from childhood or other memories that reveal unknown character traits or dilemmas. A character may suddenly remember an event from the past that triggers a flashback, or the flashback may simply occur without warning.

A flash forward, on the other hand, is when some event that has yet to happen in the present narrative time intrudes. A flash forward are like foreshadowing in that both provide clues as to what will happen later on in a story. But foreshadowing gives only an impressionistic sense of future events, while a flash forward shows the reader or viewer exactly what the future holds in store, even though the reader may not have enough information to make sense of this detail yet. Sometimes, a flash forward is nothing more than an opening line that reveals a major event in the future. “In a week’s time, the Thomas family will be dead.”