Is a 7.6k word flashback too long?

[Flaviosky]

Hello!

I was getting into the final part of my rewrite and ended up with a 7.6k word chapter consisting of a flashback revealing key aspects of the plot.

The thing is, my chapters are usually half that length and even knowing that there's no standard for chapter word count, I was wandering if it would have ended up too long for a flashback (or not fully a racconto, because the scene from the past doesn't get back to the exact moment it started).

I'd love to know your words on this.

Thanks

 

[HareBrain]

In my opinion and experience, the chief problem you have with "selling" a flashback is initial resistance of the reader to leave the story they're invested in for something else. That is the same whatever the flashback's length. If you can overcome that initial resistance, then as long as you can keep the reader engaged with the flashback, it won't matter how long it goes on for, as that then becomes the story the reader is invested in. And having a chapter twice the usual length isn't likely to be itself a problem.

How to overcome the resistance? As well as the usual hook, make it immediately obvious that the flashback will answer questions the reader is desperate to have answered.

 

[sknox]

What HareBrain said. Length is not the key factor here.

 

[Biskit]

I have mixed feelings about this. I'm not a big fan of flashbacks, and yet I use them myself. So, ignoring the fact that I'm self-contradictory on this, to me the double-length chapter flashback sounds like a hard sell. My personal preference with flashbacks is little-and-not-too-often.

Taking note of what @HareBrain said, I suspect the only real answer is to get feedback from a beta-reader. I've done flashbacks that have been fine and others which seemed OK to me got a serious do what? out of the Biskitetta.

 

[Wayne Mack]

I can commiserate with your dilemma. I am a fan of mysteries and one of the problems that I run into is the need to have a flashback or a long explanation to tell why things happened. I suggest trusting your instincts on what to do. Here are some rhetorical questions to consider.

• If you received a Yes response here, what would you cut from the flashback?
• Is everything in the flashback properly set up in the preceding story?
• Does the flashback over-explain things? Remember, the reader does not need to have every action explained nor know the backstory for every event.

Don't worry about the word count of the flashback. Consider whether what is in the flashback is both necessary and sufficient to get the reader to the final climax.

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

Is there any sensible way to split it into two chapters? Something of that length feels less like a "flashback" and more like a secondary story inserted into the main one. Which is fine. I genuinely love a good story-within-a-story! But cramming it all into one double-length chapter seems like it'd be more fatiguing to the reader than if you kept up your usual rhythm of chapter breaks. The difference between "how long does this flashback go on for?!" and "ooh look! Interesting new tale, with a cliffhanger in the middle!"

 

[Flaviosky]

I am a fan of mysteries and one of the problems that I run into is the need to have a flashback or a long explanation to tell why things happened

Well, in this particular case, the characters are:

1 - An MC without memory but with a mighty sword and a seemingly traumatic past.
2 - A vicious villain that became too powerful too fast, wanting the weapon.
3 - A weird girl with a somewhat psychotic attachment for the MC, who also knows the villain and the location of the place that, according to the legend, may contain the sword.
4 - A group of pilgrims that that get fooled by the villain pretending to be a good guy who also know the location of the place for the weapon, assumed to be just a tale.

The misteries are:

1 - How the MC and this villain know each other.
2 - How the MC found this weapon.
3 - How the villain became so powerful.
4 - How the MC, the villain and the girl are related.

The answers are set by:

1 - The MC meets the villain pretending to be a good guy (2.2k words)
2 - The MC knows the girl and end up liking each other in an organic way. (1k words)
3 - The villain gets a hold on a cursed item, driving him wicked and giving him more power and killing the group of pilgrims, leaving only the MC and the girl alive. (1.3k words)
4 - The villain threatens the girl and the MC to guide him to the place where the sword may be. During the trip, the villain punishes the girl for her fighting attitude but the MC protects her, getting tortured and saving her life. (2.4k words)
5 - They find the sword, it repels the villain, who stabs the girl believing a sacrifice will work and the MC gets a hold on the weapon to save her life. (560 words)

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

^That definitely feels like more than one chapter's worth of material there! Worth giving it some space and really dramatising these events, rather than rushing through them as quickly as possible to "explain" the main story.

 

[msstice]

This brings to mind somethings I've been learning about plot twists and plot promises.

Is the flashback at the end of the story? Is it needed to tie up loose ends? The outline of the flashback itself sounds like a whole story to me.

Wouldn't it be better to slip this story in bit by bit in the whole novel, so at the end the reader can go "Ah, this is how things came to be"?

 

[DLCroix]

Imho I think that flashbacks should point to a single thing, or be the answer to a single question, and if it contains a story, it should be summarized even if it spans a long period of time. Although it is not so. For example, the endearing Ann Rice (RIP) in the Mayfair Witches must have one of the longest flashbacks in the history of literature and no, it does not divide it into chapters, it is the longest chapter in the novel, in fact. And it is not near the end either but before the middle even. I do not know if it serves as an example, but it suggests that the flashback does not necessarily always have to be like this, that it is the answer to a great question, because there may also be romantic reasons, the setting of the story, aspects that are useful but not essential. Which also brings us to the question why they are included while they are nice to read but not so, so important I think.
By the way, was anyone also annoyed by the tremendous section that Melville includes on all types of existing whales? Well, it's not a flashback itself, but I think that just saying that Moby Dick was a kind of sperm whale was enough. Unless you're studying Marine Biology, of course, and even that.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I think it's too long, even if you telegraph the fact that your readers are going to learn important stuff. Sacrificing pace for info is a narrow tightrope.

 

[Danny McG]

What HareBrain said. Length is not the key factor here.

My wife often says that

 

[Flaviosky]

I do not know if it serves as an example,

Yes it does. My flashback is just after the climax.

Is it needed to tie up loose ends?

In this case, it reveals the past of the MC and the villain, themes that were set as a mistery since the beginning, especially if the MC is sort of a "chosen one" (although he's not the protagonist)

Wouldn't it be better to slip this story in bit by bit in the whole novel

I think the romantic part of the flashback could be put later in the story (in this particular case, in the second volume), as that female character does not play a key role on the story yet.

 

[Wayne Mack]

My flashback is just after the climax.

If the flashback follows the climax, I would wonder whether it is really necessary for the story. I sometimes find a need to create a backstory so, when writing, I know why and how a character will react and so that I can keep the character consistent. The flashback details sound more like backstory, especially if the climax works without the reader knowing those details.

I am assuming that because you posted this question that you have a feeling that the flashback doesn't feel right for the story, or at least, not in the current position. If you feel that the scenes are useful and if this is story where the villain inhabits the mind of the MC, then consider having the villain slowly reveal the details to the MC. This could be a bit of psychological warfare where the villain attempts to emotionally break the MC by incrementally revealing scenes from the MC's past. These could be interleaved with the MC's present day reactions. It's just a brainstorming idea if the flashback scenes are really worth preserving.

One caveat, I don't know the story anywhere close to what you, as the writer, know. If the concluding flashback feels right to you and you are merely questioning the length, then keep it as is. I am only trying to give you some alternate viewpoints, but in the end, you need to select the right one for your story.

 

[AllanR]

Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes stories did this.

After Holmes solved the mystery, the novel would flashback to the antagonists pov and show the events that lead to the murder. This section could be as long as the whole of the Holmes bit.

 

[DLCroix]

Yes, well, in the usual suspects, the flashback (after the climax) fits perfectly because it helps to know who of the seven was the one that the cop was looking for, the bowl scene is classic, right? But I have two observations: there is a stage in every story where a flashback will always look good: before the end, it's like the calm before the storm or final fight, you understand? And the other is that there is also a way to make it more dynamic instead of narrating it only as text (which could easily be interpreted as a tremendous infodump), that is, presenting it as a dialogue in which a character A tells him the story (the flashback) to an character B.

Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes stories did this.

After Holmes solved the mystery, the novel would flashback to the antagonists pov and show the events that lead to the murder. This section could be as long as the whole of the Holmes bit.

Yes, also in Five Orange Nuggets the flashback is the letter that presents the background of the case that Holmes is investigating, the clues from which he will solve the mystery.

 

[Flaviosky]

the villain attempts to emotionally break the MC by incrementally revealing scenes from the MC's past

He does, but in the form of brute dialogue/thoughts. The reader at this point knows there's something dark between the characters that explain how both became so powerful.

there is a stage in every story where a flashback will always look good: before the end, it's like the calm before the storm or final fight, you understand?

I can move the flashback before the final battle. I'll se how it goes, but it sure looks like a sound move.

1 - The MC meets the villain pretending to be a good guy (2.2k words)
2 - The MC knows the girl and end up liking each other in an organic way. (1k words)
3 - The villain gets a hold on a cursed item, driving him wicked and giving him more power and killing the group of pilgrims, leaving only the MC and the girl alive. (1.3k words)
4 - The villain threatens the girl and the MC to guide him to the place where the sword may be. During the trip, the villain punishes the girl for her fighting attitude but the MC protects her, getting tortured and saving her life. (2.4k words)
5 - They find the sword, it repels the villain, who stabs the girl believing a sacrifice will work and the MC gets a hold on the weapon to save her life. (560 words)

Finally I cropped the flashback to half the length by focusing on answers 3 and onwards, as that covers the main misteries of the plot so far, and allows me to put another flashback in volume 2 to address the weird bond the girl has with this MC that influences the character arc of the protagonist as well.

I must say this has been one hell of an useful conversation, so thanks to everybody.

 

[LilPunchy]

Hello!

I was getting into the final part of my rewrite and ended up with a 7.6k word chapter consisting of a flashback revealing key aspects of the plot.

The thing is, my chapters are usually half that length and even knowing that there's no standard for chapter word count, I was wandering if it would have ended up too long for a flashback (or not fully a racconto, because the scene from the past doesn't get back to the exact moment it started).

I'd love to know your words on this.

Thanks

Nothing wrong with flashbacks, but I would take that 7000k and spread it throughout the story at key points that correlate with your story line. That way you don't rip them out of the storytelling process. It may put some people off to have it all blurt out there together.

 

[LilPunchy]

Nothing wrong with flashbacks, but I would take that 7000k and spread it throughout the story at key points that correlate with your story line. That way you don't rip them out of the storytelling process. It may put some people off to have it all blurt out there together.

I meant to add, when using these flashbacks truncated throughout instead of all at once (unless it is Holmes-like) make sure there's still a big reveal to the flash back at the point where you meant the whole thing to happen originally, still needs to be some mystery to it...

 

[tinkerdan]

My question would be:
Is it necessary for the flashback to be all one piece.
In other words; is the flashback in a place where it is imperative for it all to show up all at once?

In other words; why not do it piecemeal in some order that might fit in with the rest of he narrative?

And if it's a matter of not wanting to give parts of the mysteries up too early; how important to the story is preservation of these mysteries that they require rigid protection from the reader--if they in fact do?