: Re: Narrating something that happened between chapters as a flashback in a present-tense novel So say the novel is written in first-person tense. a chapter ends, and the next chapter starts 10 days

@Holmes449

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I recommend you reading "Six Walks in the Fictional Woods" by Umberto Eco. He explains in the book such narratives (and many other aspects of either ommiting parts of information or stating it in achronological order).

The short answer to you question is: yes, you obviously can do that. Just remember (as Monica Cellio commented) to clearly state that the situation is back in time. It does not mean you need to give time clearly, but the reader should know somehow what is the correct order of events (unless you intentionally want him to be uncertain, which could be a point if it is criminal story and the protagonist is a detective reconstructing events). On the other hand you should not give more clues than necessary.

Fine way to introduce such flashback is to use parts of the story world rather than exact time. You could even introduce some object/person into your story just to mark the time. E.g. in first chapter a cat walks around your flat and (at the end) destroys your favourite cup; in second one cat is already dead (and obviously cup is gone); then in third you do not give clues about time, but cat is alive and the cup is broken. This way both the reader knows at which time events occure and the story does not become boring.

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