: Re: What is the role of "flashback" in my novel? I start my Revolutionary War novel on August 21, 1780, when "boy meets girl." Specifically, the hero is rescued from British captivity by a bunch

@LarsenBagley300

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In the end, you determine if you are right. However, if you repeatedly hear the same advice from different sources, you might make the change and see if it feels right after a few days.

Example: I believed I needed a prologue when I wrote my story. After a while, hearing from enough people that I should cut the prologue, I deleted it and 'wove' the necessary information into the story in other ways. I've decided they were right in this case, and now I hold that view too.

Alternate example: The same people want my 3rd limited narrator to refer to the protagonist's mom and dad as 'Mom' and 'Dad' in narration because 'this is how the character thinks of them.' The argument is sound but I never liked it. I tried taking the advice several times, reformatting portions as suggested. It never sat right, ever. I finally decided to create a rule in my world that says the culture is such that children think of their parents by name, and that 'mom' and 'dad' are more intimate forms of address used on occasion.

Answer: You find the consensus and address it in your work, either by doing what the critics say, doing something else that meets the criticism, or doing nothing because in the end YOU are right. Readers/critics are a valuable resource for you - because they are telling you how the public may see your work.

(Also, if you hope to publish traditionally, the agent or publisher may have some say in who is right.)

Edit:

You've prompted me to look at some blogs about flashbacks. Here's an example of a seamless flashback, from the link. The link describes do's and don't's for flashbacks - these might solve your dilemma without needing to cut the flashback.

There are a lot of writer blogs out there that have various topical advice and some of it is good.

I bolded the start of the flashback.:

All his old habits came back automatically. At a glance he assessed
[everyone’s] posture and hands. Was there a man whose fingers curled
in a little tremor when their eyes met, a woman whose hand moved to
rest inside her handbag? He knew all the practical moves and
involuntary gestures, and he scanned everyone, granting no
exceptions.He and Eddie had done a job like this one when he was no
more than twelve. Eddie had dressed him for baseball, and had even
bought him a new glove to carry folded under his arm. When they had
come upon the man in the crowd, he hadn’t even seen them; his eyes
were too occupied in studying the crowd for danger to waste a moment
on a little kid and his father walking home from a sandlot game. As
they passed the man …

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