Novel Writing: Dealing With Flashbacks and Repressed Memories

Flashbacks and repressed memories make for interesting reading in fiction, but there’s a problem.  So often, the subject can become another cliché, similar to an opening italicised dream.

Clearly, though, some people repress memories of a traumatic event and  triggers such as a smell or a sound can cause those memories to come back, often resulting in distress.  

Since fiction is all about character and since characters reflect people and their problems, I can see no reason for advising against the use of flashbacks in novel writing.   However, I would suggest the following:

• Imagine that you are the character
• Introduce fleeting impressions of memory at first, relying on one or more of the five senses
• Make sure there is an adequate trigger for the first flashback, preferably a sound or a smell. Alternatively, discussing an event can trigger memories that a person wasn’t aware of
• Avoid using italics
• Develop the memory over the course of the story, especially the images and the impact on the character
• If the character is remembering a traumatic event, have some of the details echo
• Introduce something new each time you deal with the memory scene

I’ve reached the 65,000 word stage in my first novel, a psychological thriller, and am now dealing the above points.  Rewarding and not too difficult.  I’m enjoying it.

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Backing Up Fiction And Music: Great Online Tools

I’m a chronic worrier.  One of the things I worry about most is losing all my writing, especially after the work I’ve put in.  Water dripping through the ceiling, a fire, a burglary…and the novels would be lost.  Worse, my printer isn’t working properly at the moment. 

Yet, with the Internet revolution of the last ten years and Web 2.0 sites, no one need ever worry about losing their work.  At the end of each writing session, I send the latest novel draft to several, if not all, of my six email accounts.  This keeps them safe.  Many email accounts can also store digital music files and photographs.  

Every week or so, I upload the novel in progress to Mediafire.com, a free online place for storing documents, photos and music.

I also take advantage of Google Docs and Zoho Docs, both free.  Google Docs limits the size of each file, but it’s possible to upload an entire novel by dividing it into smaller sections.

Finally, I create a new page of my WordPress blog, copy/paste the novel to the page and save the page as a draft that only I can see.

Admittedly, I still worry about losing my work at times, but the measures mentioned above should help.

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Dreams in Fiction?

When I first started writing a novel, a psychological thriller, I relied heavily on italicized dreams because it seemed the right thing to do. Over the years, however, I’ve cut most of the dreams and concentrated on the central character in real time. As a member of a novelist group once said to me, “if you’re going to use dreams, then at least reveal something new in the dreams.”

Now, I’ve had to ditch that one important opening dream that acts as a kind of prologue to the action. At a recent meeting, an editor told me that opening dreams are clichés. The editor asked whether I would read a prologue in italics in someone else’s book and I replied that I probably wouldn’t. So I’ve had to get rid of the dream.

_________

The rewrite of the novel seems to be going all right. I’m concentrating a lot more on all the senses and atmosphere.

I’m using a fantastic programme, Storybook, that enables users to plan and organize scenes. Storybook is an open source programme and doesn’t cost a penny (or cent).

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Writing and Legal Matters

So far…I’ve written two novels, both psychological thrillers.  The first is with a professional editor, the second with a friend who apparently thinks the story is very exciting.

The fiction over for a while, I’ve been working on a sensitive writing project that I may eventually self-publish under a pseudonym – my memories of childhood written in dramatic narrative with careful consideration given to imagery and pace.   The project has brought to mind various legal points.   I’m based in the UK, but I would imagine that similar laws exist in the States:

• Never quote lines of lyrics or poems without first getting permission from the publisher or copyright owner
• Don’t write anything that harms a person’s reputation
• If neccesary, disguise names and places
• Do not reveal information about a minor
• Don’t include material that incites others to commit crimes
• Always exercise caution

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A Simpler Plot: The Rewrite

Finally, I’ve reached the final chapters of my novel, a psychological thriller set in the English countryside.   In a previous posts, I mentioned a phrase that some creative writing tutors use rather a lot: “murdering your darlings.”  The logic behind it is this:  a story, particularly a novel or novella, develops  over time and sometimes the original ideas and arguments end  up clashing with the new direction of the story – therefore, the writer should consider cutting these old problematic sections to allow the story plot to develop.  However, most writers don’t want to cut sections of writing they’re particularly proud of.  The sections have become their “darlings”.  Yet, it is these “darling” sections that could be holding the story back.

As I stated in an earlier post, I tended to pump up the fear factor at first.  This, of course, had the opposite effect, removing any traces of subtlety from the story and creating scenes that weren’t frightening at all because most people wouldn’t find those scenes convincing.    In the last two rewrites of the novel, I’ve had to remove all aspects of madness in the viewpoint of the male character and concentrate instead on a simpler, more logical plot structure.

In most crime/thriller fiction, plot is character led.   Two of the best questions to ask about a main character are – 1) what do they fear most? and 2) what do they want most?   These driving forces propel the story forward and determine the various plot possibilities.

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50,000 Words

I’ve now reached 50,000 words of the draft I’m currently working on, a psychological thriller told from two viewpoints regarding two characters struggling to cope with the past.  I ran into trouble when I tried  to write out a major character from the story.  

I’ve since reinstated the character and revised the plot on previous lines, developing that particular character. The problem with this particular character has helped me realise that structural difficulties in storytelling are similar to difficulties in real life – the problems are there  to stay.  

Fiction is all about conflict and situations worsening.   Getting rid of material to simplify matters doesn’t always work.  

Fortunately, I’ve managed to escape writer’s block this time round, apart from once.

 

Further Writing Tips

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Struggling with RSI again

It’s back. Discomfort in the elbows and arms coming from the neck area. I suppose I’ll have to dig out the exercises the physio gave me last year.

I’m a classical pianist, and I spend hours at the computer writing fiction most days. Yet, neither is causing the problem. At one point, my sleeping angle was doing it, but now I think it’s the mobile phone. I’m spending too much time in the wrong position.

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Story Questions and Fiction

Two weeks ago, I completed the draft of a psychological thriller, word count 91,000.   I read through it, made some changes to the first eighteen chapters and was about to read it again when I decided to put the manuscript away for a while, as I realised I’m too close to the story to evaluate it properly. As I’m driven to write most evenings, I decided to start another novel and have done over 8,000 words since Monday.

In previous posts, I described some of the difficulties people face in novel writing (see  Driving Factors in Fiction, Different Camera Lenses: Viewpoint, Writer’s Block, Creative Writing Headaches ).  Normally, difficulties occur when there is a lack of structure.   Since I’m dealing with entirely fresh material this time rather than editing stuff I’ve already written,  I’m finding it much easier than before.  I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t put into the practice the writing tips I’ve posted on this blog, so here are a few of the things I’ve been doing to help the writing process:

• Keeping a list of story question
• Brainstorming
• Circling in red ink sentences in the story summary that leap out
• Working out the character driver questions – e.g. what does the character most want and what do they most fear?
• Working on viewpoint character sources of inner conflicts

Like before, I’m rotating viewpoints, one per chapter.

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Completed Draft

I’ve finally finished the draft of the psychological thriller I’m currently working on, having spent seven weeks revising and editing.  The story now stands at 91,000 words, slightly shorter than before.  I’ve more or less enjoyed the process, have experienced only the occasional bout of writer’s block this time round and feel I’ve really accomplished something of value.

As I posted elsewhere, I revised the manuscript with several points in mind:

1. A different character driver.   In fiction, the character’s motives, desires, fears and conflicts drive the story forwards.   The central question of each story has to be – will the protagonist achieve the goal they have set out to achieve early on in the story?  There are three possible answers to the question – Yes, No or Maybe (open endings).  This central question shapes the story.   If there is no quest for the character to embark on, there really isn’t much of a story.
2. The Importance of Story Questions.   Keeping a list of story questions helps keep the story focused.  In the past I had huge problems because of a failure to work on some type of structure.  Not surprisingly, I felt like giving up writing at times.   During the rewrite, I tried a new technique – I would write down the most recent story questions in reverse order from memory. 
3. Viewpoint.  Many of the problems in the earlier drafts stemmed from the fact I was telling most of the story from the wrong viewpoint.   There are three viewpoint characters, a thirty-five year old guy, his sister and his best mate.  There are also sections of back story, including sudden flashbacks where the story is told from the perspectives of the (then) ten-year-old boys.  Previously, I concentrated on the relationship between the protagonist’s sister and his best friend, but members of a local novelist suggested that the relationship between the two didn’t really work.  This time,  I’ve paid more attention to the two male characters.
4. Rotating Viewpoints.   With the exception of the final showdown scenes, each chapter is told only from the perspective of one character and the chapter viewpoints rotate.  I strongly believe that whilst this method of narration has its drawbacks, rotating viewpoints per chapter allows a greater level of psychological intensity and immediacy.  Anyway, I prefer working in this way.

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New Story Questions

I’ve reached the 67,000 word point in my current psychological thriller and am trying to put into the practice the elements of creative writing techniques I’ve been posting about – namely, what to do when, or if, writer’s block occurs. In this particular story, I’ve rotated viewpoints so that each chapter is told from a distinct perspective. I feel the method of narration adds to the atmosphere and takes away the “samey” tone so apparent in previous drafts.

So what next? Now that I’ve reached the final stage of the story, I’m considering looking at two or three deleted scenes set originally at about fourteen thousand words. Sometimes, in fiction, a scene that doesn’t work in one place can be axed, then brought back at a later date and placed somewhere else in the story. That’s why backup copies are so important. Keeping a list of story questions really helps too, as these can bring meaning to scenes that previously appeared to lack purpose.  I’m quite confident about completing this novel draft soon.

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