Have you ever tried to write a dream sequence or a flashback in your novels? What did you think of it when you were finished? Were you happy with the end result, or did it leave you feeling a little flat when you read back over it?
The school of thought on dreams and flashbacks is divided. Some believe that the use of these devices exhibit the writer's immature efforts at crafting backstory and plugging it in, resulting in an amateurish debut into the literary world.
If not done well, this could prove true.
But why pick on flashbacks and dreams? Even plain storytelling without the use of these literary devices can sometimes result in what dissolves into, at best, a "freshman effort." It's not necessarily due to using these tools, though some critics may call upon this as their "rule of thumb" to judge by.
Another argument against flashbacks and dreams is that they lead the reader out of the actual moment of the story, and may somehow "confuse the reader."
Oh, come on.
The only bit of confusion that might occur is not the result of the dream or flashback itself; rather, the inability of the writer to make his meaning clear--again, resulting in an immature presentation.
Yes, flashbacks and dreams are sometimes tough to transition to and from, and make that transition "work." But they can be invaluable tools in creating your backstory.
What are the advantages of dream sequences? They can foreshadow events to come, or provide information about events that the dreamer witnessed.
In my book, Fire Eyes, U.S. Marshal Kaed Turner is being tortured by a band of renegades, so he isn't paying attention to some of the details of events and conversation that is taking place around him at the time. But later, when he's safely recovering, he dreams about what happened to him. This dream does two things for the reader:
1.) It lets us know what, exactly, was being done to Kaed through the conversation and actions of the participants. We see and hear what is happening, as if we are there, in the moment, without Kaed having to re-tell it to someone.
2.) It allows Kaed (and the reader) to seize upon a very important piece of information that's pertinent to the plot.
He was not aware of it consciously, but his subconscious thoughts had picked it up, and it was revealed in the dream.
If you are writing a story with psychic or paranormal happenings, dreams could be a shared link between characters. This device is used often in novels that include time travel, as well.
One thing to consider when writing a dream sequence is the way your character sees life, and what his or her culture is. Make your dreams and flashbacks reflect this appropriately. In Native American culture, an owl is a symbol of impending death--not wisdom. It might mean different things to people from other cultures. Yet, a raven will probably hold much the same symbolism for everyone.
Your characters can solve problems in their dreams. This happens in reality--it can happen in fiction.
"You didn't kill Liberty Valance. Think back..."
Remember, like the presentation of a gourmet meal, a seamless story is in the telling, or the writing. Backstory is sometimes essential, as are clues to the story that might not be able to be presented any other way. Make your transitions to the past, or in and out of the dream state, as flawless as possible.
If you do this, your readers won't be confused, and you'll hold them spellbound as they see the story unfold along with your characters.
Do you use dreams and flashbacks in your writing? I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts on this. I personally love both dreams and flashbacks, and use both quite frequently in my writing. Let me hear from you!
Great post! I hadn't really thought of using dreams in my work, but reading this,and the piece about Kaed, and his dream bringing up things from his unconscious mind, I might be tempted to try it some time, it's an interesting thought. In the Contemporary one I am working on now, there is a section with a short 'flashback' which shows a place as it used to look, I hope it works eventually! Thanks for this interesting post.
ReplyDeleteHi Jill! You know, I enjoy reading about dreams and flashbacks when it's well-written. Sometimes, nothing can take the place of going back in time, or finding out something in a dream. Glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you find it useful!
DeleteCheryl
I've used this device, sometimes well, sometimes not so well. But since I use my imagination (and dreams) so much in my own life, they can't help but slide into my work. In my book "The Sparrow", I have a lot of 'dream' sequences via shamanic traveling. Looking back on the story now, I think I may have too many, but they all reveal important points in the tale. This is where I think it boils down to reader preference. I don't mind reading about such things, but I have friends who are more grounded in reality, and this type of stuff holds little appeal. In the end, as you say, the writer should do his/her best to present it well. After that, it's a subjective experience.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Cheryl! It's one of the few that's talked positively about this plot device.
Kristy, I don't understand why it's become so fashionable to bash dreams and flashbacks, other than that there for awhile, so many writers were using them and some very badly. Same thing happened with time travel books--they were hot in the beginning but then when people started churning them out and so many of the plots and ways that people "got back" in time were implausible and unbelievable, agents and publishers began to shy away from time travel books. I don't think we should ever give up on a whole segment of writing--sub genres or plot devices--just because someone has used them badly before us. That's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. But it does make those of us who DO continue to use these writing tools subject to deeper scrutiny and knowing how to implement them in the best possible way to keep from being lumped into the "eh, not so good" category. And as you say, there are those who just don't care for those devices and usages, but you can't please everyone, and as long as you're telling the story, you have to ask, "Who's driving this bus?"
DeleteCheryl
I think editors and writing teachers often say "don't use dreams and flashbacks at all" because they've seen both techniques used badly too many times. (I've told a freelance journalist or two that I never want to see another semicolon from them again, ever, in anything, for the same reason.)
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure you've noticed, I am not above using the occasional flashback. They must work reasonably well, because you haven't cut them out or come after me with a butcher knife...yet. :-D I think one key to using flashbacks well is to make them as brief as possible. Otherwise, readers may lose the main story's thread while traipsing through the past.
I think the same holds true for dreams -- to a point. I've used dream sequences in a couple of novel manuscripts you haven't seen yet (**whistling and looking off into space**). Dreams probably should be as brief as possible, too, but when they're used well, they don't seem to bog done a story's pace as much, especially when they're prophetic or reveal vital information a character couldn't or didn't notice at the time an event took place (as in Kaed's dream).
In any case, both techniques probably shouldn't appear until a good bit into the story. Once a story has hooked a reader, he or she is more likely to enjoy little jaunts into the past or fantasies than if those things occurred at the beginning, IMO. When a reader first "meets" a book, it seems he or she just wants to "get on with it, already." (And, of course, I say that after writing a flashback in the first scene of my story in LASSOING A GROOM. :-D )
Good Lord. I seem to have written a short-story-length treatise in this comment box. As verbose and I can be, perhaps I should yank dreams and flashbacks out of my writerly toolbox altogether. :-D
LOL Kathleen, sometimes those dreams and flashbacks have to come a bit earlier than I would like, too. In Time Plains Drifter, because of the fact that Rafe is from the past and comes forward in time (and he's dead, on top of everything else!) and Jenni goes backward in time, I had two editors who wanted them to "get together" before they did. So I had to give him a dream with her in it--kind of a premonition that he had before he was killed.
DeleteI think it depends on the story, entirely, whether it works or not, and when to use it (or THEM). And sometimes, as you say, "getting on with it, already" means that there must be some kind of info given to make them understand the importance of what's coming. Any more, with the downhill slide for publishers not wanting to include prologues of any type (and readers who will admit, "Oh, I just skip the prologue." ) it gets harder and harder to "check all the boxes" of good writing, according to the "rules" set forth by the NYC publishers. Why can't we just tell a good story? That's what needs to happen. And hopefully, what IS happening with our publications here at PRP and imprints.
Oh, hush up, Tex, 'bout yer "verbosity". I love your long comments and e-mails. You always have something good to say!
Cheryl
That's true! The story's quality is the ultimate gauge of whether ANY technique works, isn't it? No technique is going to kill a good story. By the same token, no technique is going to save a bad one.
DeleteI think PRP is doing an EXCELLENT job of getting some top-quality stories and authors onto the shelves -- precisely because PRP is not invested in "traditional publishing wisdom." :-)
Music to my ears, Kathleen! Livia and I really hope to bring a lot of new voices out into the light of day with their works that are just plain ol' good stories. Even with all the criticism of the Harry Potter books' writing, who wouldn't trade places with J.K. Rowling? Success is success--and the way she told those stories worked.
DeleteNever say never or always. Flashbacks and Dreams can really help give the reader some insight into the characters and their circumstances. Now, I'm not saying use 'em all the time and get carried away, but they can be pretty dang handy used with discretion. I've used them on occasion. I have no regrets. I have seen newby authors use them to the point of distraction and make me grind my teeth, but I've also seen some good use of them as well by seasoned authors. Backstory can kill a story though. I've killed a few--especially back there in my early days as an author.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good article, Cheryl. It certainly makes us all take note of how we use these tools.
Thanks, Sarah. As with just about anything, it's all in how you use it. My dad used to say, "Moderation in all things, Cheryl Kathlyn..." LOL So true, though. Thanks for stopping by and commenting--I know this is one you've seen before, but it does bear repeating!
DeleteCheryl
Good article. I'm using a few flashbacks in my current manuscript. There are events that happened to the main character that shape her personality and are, hopefully, written well enough that they enhance rather than distract from the readers experience.
ReplyDeleteHi Connie, I guess the key word is "few" here, right? LOL It CAN be distracting when the story keeps going backward and forward, but I think that sometimes that "missing part" HAS to be filled in for everything else to have the impact it needs to have. So glad you came by today! And I agree with you--sometimes flashbacks are the only way to let the reader know what shaped the character to become the person they are in the story--we need that understanding sometimes!
DeleteCheryl
Ahem... Not only do I like to read stories with backstory, flashbacks, dream sequences, prologues, and epilogues--Just about all the writing techniques the "critiques" advise against--I WRITE them when the situation warrants. ;-)
ReplyDeleteNow, I will agree that if used as filler or not transitioned smoothly, any of these techniques will throw the reader out of the story, but, of course, I'd never do that. bwhahahaha!
On a serious note, though, if we listened to every bit of 'don't do this' or 'don't do that' advice, we'd never finish writing any story because we'd second guess ourselves right out of our confidence as storytellers. It's hard enough to keep our internal editors bound and gagged (so to speak) during the rough draft stage without worrying about what the critiques say.
Kaye, I have heard so many newbies that are totally discouraged because of all the "rules" and trying to follow them. When that happens, you can just about bet the story is going to be as interesting as watching paint dry. But just starting out, it's hard to know what to listen to and what to ignore. Even as we go along on our writing travels, it's sometimes hard to decide what advice we need to really glom onto or let go. Transitions are really important, no matter what--whether they're from present scene to scene or past to present, etc. they HAVE to be smooth, or your reader is going to be jerked right out of the story.
DeleteI so agree with you. You have to write the story the best way it can be, and sometimes, that means ignoring much of what we've been told to do or not do by others.
Cheryl
When reading someone's work with that in it, it can be useful and I enjoy it. In my own, I may only have done it once in Arizona Sunset. The heroine is feeling a lot of rebellion at her life in the opening of the story. She has a dream. I had had that dream years earlier, always remembered it and felt it helped to set the scene for what she'd be experiencing. The dream was quite vivid with an Indian girl watching her tribe prepare to kill a wolf as part of a sacrifice that ensured the health of the tribe. She went against them all and when they left, she did what she could to heal the wolf. He shifted into a man. Whether he would survive was up to him not her. The story has no paranormal aspect and my take on the dream at the time I had it was it was a message dream about going against the cultural norms to find your own path but recognizing you cannot heal someone else. Did it work in the story? Only a reader might know as I knew what I meant it to be but how ti was taken...
DeleteThat's really interesting, Rain. After I read this, I tried to think of any time I might have used one of my own dreams in a plot of some kind. I usually forget my dreams within 10 minutes after I wake up. Even the ones I think I'm going to remember forever. LOL But what a great idea you got from that dream, and I love the meaning behind it that you used in your story!
DeleteCheryl
I think both are very useful if handled well. I use them and sometimes even in the poetry I write. The flashback/dream is like the icing on a cake, it can be beautiful or a disaster, the creator is the key. Loved and found the post most useful. Thanks Doris
ReplyDeleteVery true, Doris. "It can be beautiful or a disaster, the creator is the key." Couldn't have said it better myself! Thanks for stopping by today--glad you found this useful!
DeleteCheryl
I've used dreams in several books.
ReplyDeleteCindy, I think they're a great tool. Glad you agree!
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