We\u2019re in primrose and rhododendron heaven at our house. The primroses are like flower fireworks: one tier of flowers opens, then the next above it. If you\u2019d like to see, just click on David\u2019s website on the right.<\/p>\n
And there seems to be a new promotional thing in the publishing world: the cover reveal. I had never heard of it, but now I\u2019m involved. Writing Magic<\/i> is getting a new cover to go with the forthcoming Writer to Writer<\/i>, and I will reveal both\u2013ta da!<\/i>\u2013the next time I post, and you will be among the first to see Eliza\u2019s great subtitle as it will appear.<\/p>\n
Now for this week\u2019s topic. On March 23, 2014, Eliza wrote, My heroine has to find and save her lost boyfriend, who disappears at the beginning. I’m doing flashbacks so the reader can care whether or not he’s rescued. I don’t want the flashbacks to overwhelm the real story, so I’m doing important moments, like their first meeting, first kiss, etc. I know I need more but I’m not sure what to include. Ideas?<\/i><\/p>\n
And Bug offered this: Have you read “Persuasion: A Latter Day Tale”? It’s a retelling of Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”. In it, Anne keeps meeting her old boyfriend, which is pretty hard for her, and every chapter starts out with an old journal entry of a date with Neil or some random memory. Maybe if you read that it could give you some idea? I think that you should just add whatever memories you can think of right now, and then, when you are editing your book, cut the unnecessary stuff out.<\/i><\/p>\n
I like the suggestion that Eliza write more than she may need. Pruning is easier than padding. And it\u2019s a wealthy feeling when we have lots of material. I also like the chapter beginning idea. The advantage is that the reader comes to expect it, so we don\u2019t need to create an entry into the flashback and an exit from it, as I wrote about in a post on the subject. If we do this a few times but irregularly, we won\u2019t need one for every chapter, which could be burdensome.<\/p>\n
As for choice of flashback moments, I don\u2019t remember when my husband and I first met. We went to the same college, and he was just there in my background as I was in his. My most vivid memory was an early date when he set his hair on fire.<\/p>\n
We were both smokers back then (and now we\u2019re long-time non-smokers), as most everyone was. He decided it would be romantic to look at me through the flame of his lighter. He had curly, bushy hair, and it went up, but because it was so thick he didn\u2019t feel it immediately. My jaw dropped. I didn\u2019t know him well, and in my mind he could have been crazy enough to light his hair on purpose.<\/p>\n
That was memorable.<\/p>\n
What did I learn about David from that mini-conflagration? That he\u2019s a romantic. After he realized and put the fire out, he thought it was funny, and he wasn\u2019t so embarrassed he never spoke to me again. He wasn\u2019t angry, either, because I\u2019d been there when he looked a little silly. What do we have? Romanticism, sense of humor, willingness to be vulnerable. What a guy! (And he tolerates me retelling the story many times over.)<\/p>\n
So, the important flashback scene may be the fifth kiss rather than the first. Or, it can be the first, but we want it to be the moment that means the most to our MC, and it\u2019s nice if it can be a little surprising to the reader, like flaming hair was to me and David.<\/p>\n
I assume that Eliza\u2019s MC is trying to rescue her boyfriend because she loves him. If that\u2019s the case and if the reader identifies with her, he will care about whatever she cares about. We need her to think about the boyfriend and miss him, but we may not need a lot of flashbacks.<\/p>\n
In this example let\u2019s call her Lena and him Luke. Suppose she\u2019s thinking about when he was last seen and what she should do next. It might go like this: The terrible thing was, she wanted his ideas. They always puzzled problems out together. When Luke brainstormed with her, lines of inquiry never petered out. She\u2019d reach a dead end, or he would, and the other one would see a glimmer further on. Over a cheeseburger or on a walk in the nature preserve, they\u2019d solved the world\u2019s problems\u2013and Luke\u2019s problems with his boss and her difficulties with her packrat of a roommate. Lena pressed her fingertips into her temples. Luke, Luke, how would you<\/u> find you? What would you suggest? How did you become such a part of me?<\/i> (Along with worries about his suffering and even\u2013eek!\u2013possible death.)<\/p>\n
For this, the reader doesn\u2019t even have to think well of him, only of her. Our reader may even come to understand that he\u2019s horrible. She (the reader) may want Luke to never be found, but she wants Lena to be happy.<\/p>\n
Or Lena may be rescuing Luke for some other reason than that she loves him. Their relationship may have run its course. They\u2019re not that close anymore, but she doesn\u2019t want anything bad to happen to him. She may have another motive as well. Maybe someone, who could be Luke or another character, has accused her of being incapable of finding her way out of a paper bag. Now she has something to prove. Or maybe their last moment before his disappearance was an argument. She needs to make up or explain herself or get in the last word.<\/p>\n
If there isn\u2019t quite as much at stake emotionally, the reader will still want Lena to succeed and will still be engaged by her investigation. So long as we make that interesting, we\u2019re home free.<\/p>\n
Back to the flashbacks. Another way to use them is to work clues into them, too. Suppose the seeds of Luke\u2019s disappearance were sown long ago, and clues lurk in the flashbacks, then we have a second reason for introducing them. For instance, Lena thinks back to the party where she met Luke. He came with a friend named Otis whom Lena never saw again. We flash back to the party. Lena sees Luke writing in a small notebook. At the end of the evening, Luke walks Lena home, and Otis drives away. His car has a vanity plate: OBLIT. Lena thinks the meaning has something to do with literature, since Luke is an English Lit major. Flashback ends at Lena\u2019s door. Now, back in the present, she wonders if OBLIT stood for obliterate.<\/p>\n
Here are prompts from the post:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Imagine a memorable early event in the romance between Lena and Luke. Doesn\u2019t have to involve a small fire, but it can. Write the scene. If you\u2019re writing from omniscient third person, include the thoughts of each about the other. If from just one POV, write the thoughts of the POV character.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Write another scene from early days in their relationship and drop in hints that there is something mysterious about Luke.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Write the scene in which Luke disappears. If Lena isn\u2019t present, write the scene when she finds out about his disappearance.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Write Lena\u2019s speculations about what may have happened to Luke. Write the first scene in which she tries to find out what happened to him.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Write a flashback of Luke and make the reader mistrust him and fear for Lena.<\/p>\n
Have fun, and save what you write! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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