Free Advanced Brilliant Writing: Make Your Plots Wider and Your Characters Deeper (Go! Write Something Brilliant) by Susan May Warren Page A

the story on many levels. Scene Two is simply added character texturing.
    So, the Complexity Litmus Test confirms the need for a Flashback to reveal all the facets of the event.
    Is it Relevant to the Storytime Plot?
    The Flashback must bring something forward from the event that is integral to the storytime plot. It could be a motivation, a plot element, a character lie—something that matters in the current plot. It also must have an emotional element to it that requires the character to think about it, or confront it during the journey of the story. Thus, to be a Flashback, it must past the Relevance Litmus Test.
    Again, let’s examine the two scenes. In the first scene, we meet a number of people who matter to the current plotline—Boone, of course, and his father. But also Ernie, who is found deceased a few days into the story. Also, since PJ is still harboring hurt over the event, and since Boone is still trying to get into her good graces, their past contributes to their current conflict. Finally, PJ’s issues of shame still affect her today, and her emotional dark moment in the book relates directly back to that event on prom night.
    In the second scene, between PJ and her father, the moment where PJ is remembering her father passes as soon as she drives up to her house. Yes, it’s a sweet memory, but there is no intrigue about the event and since her father is deceased, he brings no conflict to the present. It’s not a moment that needs to be relived, or even remembered, if we were tight on word count.
    Thus, scene one passes the Relevance Litmus Test.
    Now that we know if we should use a Flashback or simply Backstory, let’s establish some Flashback Rules on how to use a Flashback.
    Rule #1. Thou shalt not use more than three Flashbacks in a book . And, if possible, thou shalt keep them to one major Flashback per book.
    Why? Because if you have too many Flashbacks, it dilutes the story, and it gets confusing. The reader needs to focus on one pivotal event that shapes the plot or emotional journey today. If the event is too large, and you need to break it up into two or even three events, then insert them in pieces throughout the story. You may also have two events that lead up to the third, major event. Or three examples of the same kind of event.
    For example, in The Fugitive , we see three major flashbacks of the story—the first is when Dr. Kimble is describing to the police what happened. The second is when the trial takes place and we see Dr. Kimble’s wife calling for help, and thus, why he is convicted. The third is when he chases down the one arm man in his home. All three of these are portions of the same scene, but they work together to reveal more information each time. The few snippets he has of being with his wife are Backstory elements, not true flashbacks.
    The exception to this rule would be if you are writing a dual story, where there is a dual plot, one in the past, one in the present. Rachel Hauck’s The Sweet By and By is a dual plot story and concise but vivid Flashbacks make up a subplot within the main plot. Books like The Time Traveler’s Wife and The Outlander are actually stories with two plotlines.
    Rule #2. Thou shalt use clean construction to move the reader in and out of a Flashback.
    First, let’s start with the understanding that we will not make the Flashback in different typestyle. I know the temptation is to set it apart from the regular story. I have done that in situations where the Flashback is, for example, actually a piece of correspondence, or even a dream, but it can be very jarring for the reader.
    Instead, here are a couple techniques for entering and exiting a Flashback seamlessly:
    Going into the Flashback, you first want to alert your reader to the fact that it is not happening in the storytime present. Give the reader some hint that you are travelling through the mind of the character to a different time.
    He remembered the moment like it might be