Flashbacks

When I was around 14, my dad showed me a book he had read when he was around 14. It was a 1948 compilation of zany stories by Max Shulman, a novelist and TV writer best known (and now forgotten) for creating the Dobie Gillis TV character. I actually never read the book. But together my dad and I read the introduction, which was hilarious at the time. The intro was titled "How to be a Writer, or Oblivion Made Simple." My favorite part was a section on how to use flashbacks in narrative. In my opinion it belongs on every writer's shelf next to Strunk & White. I'd like to illegally share it:

"A story can be told in one of two ways: chronologically from the beginning, or in flashback. Flashback, in turn, lends itself to several variations:

Simple flashback -- A character remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated.

Double flashback -- Two characters each remember incidents in their pasts. These incidents are narrated.

Triple flashback -- Three characters each remember incidents in their pasts. These incidents are narrated.

(There are also quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, etc., flashbacks. The beginning writer is advised not to go beyond sextuple.)

Telescoping flashback -- A character remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. A character who appears during the narration of this incident remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated.

Double telescoping flashback -- A character remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. A character who appears during the narration of this incident remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. A character who appears during the narration of this incident remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated.

Telescoping double flashback -- This is not to be confused with double telescoping flashback. In double telescoping flashback, you will recall, one character remembers an incident in his past in which one other character appears who remembers an incident in which one other character appears. But in telescoping double flashback, two characters who appear during the narration of these incidents remember incidents in their pasts. These incidents are narrated.

Double telescoping double flashback -- Two characters each remember incidents in their pasts. These incidents are narrated. Two characters who appear during the narration of these incidents remember incidents in their pasts. These incidents are narrated. Two characters who appear during the narration of these incidents remember incidents in their pasts. These incidents are narrated.

(As you can see, any number of attractive variations suggest themselves. For example, telescoping triple flashback, double telescoping triple flashback, triple telescoping double flashback, etc.)

False flashback -- A character remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. Then it is discovered that the incident never happened to this character at all.

False telescoping flashback -- This is like telescoping flashback except both incidents never really happened.

False telescoping true flashback -- A character remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. This incident really happened. A character who appears during the narration of this incident remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. This incident never happened.

True telescoping false flashback -- A character remembers an incident in his past. This incident is narrated. This incident never happened. However, a character who appears during the narration of this incident remembers an incident in his past which really did happen. This incident is narrated.

(Again the combinations are endless. Indeed there are types of false flashbacks for which the nomenclature has not yet been determined. An example is a flashback in which three characters remember incidents in their pasts, the first false, the others true. In the narration of these incidents three other characters remember incidents in their pasts. But -- and mark this well -- the character in the false incident remembers a true incident, and the characters in the true incidents remember false incidents. To call this flashback either a false double telescoping true triple flashback or a true double telescoping false triple flashback would be misleading.)"

-- Max Shulman, 1948