MiniLesson Flashbacks and flashforwards Later at lunch I
Mini-Lesson: Flashbacks and flashforwards
Later, at lunch, I found myself at a new table. I couldn’t help but remember the first time Lea had asked to sit next to me. Flashbacks/Flashforwards There are plenty of ways to do this. The easiest way is to just go onto a new paragraph and orient the reader with present or past information. My friend group had just gotten in a huge fight and I was off on my own. A girl from my French class was eating alone, so I took a leap of faith and sat down. Even just after a few minutes of talking to each other, we both couldn’t believe it had taken us this long to sit together. I shook the tears from my eyes, reminding myself that regardless of how well we got along, what Lea had done to Meghan was unforgivable.
Flashbacks/Flashforwards If you are looking to comment on the past in the middle of your flashback, you can do what Elie Wiesel so often does, and use “whispering parenthesis”. When I saw Lea in school the next day, she was talking to Andrea and Samantha. I was surprised. She had certainly moved on quickly. (I learned later that she had only pretended to talk to them when she saw me coming. I can’t believe that we were both so petty!). I walked by her pretending not to notice.
Examples in Literature: Night Elie Wiesel uses parenthesis to “flashforward” in a way. He comments on the past from the present without interrupting the scene he’s trying to create
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