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Ask for help > Using flashback narration in story writing
Using flashback narration in story writing
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magneto
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Using flashback narration in story writing
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Hello everyone!
How are you? Hope everything �s fine with you.
I have a question for you regarding the use of flashback narration in story writing.
My students had to write a story ending in "It had all been a case of mistaken identity." I know a topic like this one requires the use of flashback narration at some point, but my question is this: Can you start your story with flashback narration?
One of my students has started her story using the flashback technique (Past Perfect and all) in the first two paragraphs and it seems a bit odd to me. Still, I thought I should ask before correcting her, as the case might simply be that I haven �t encountered this so far and it �s perfectly acceptable...What do you think? Have you seen flashback narration used this way before? Does it sound OK to you?
Thank you in advance for your help!
Have a great day/ evening
Edit: Here�s the beginning of the story...Do the first two paragraphs seem odd to you, too? Too much Past Perfect, perhaps?
Tom Smith had decided to go on a trip. New York had seemed to him like an ideal place. When he had arrived, he had been thrilled, as a visit to that place had been the dream of his life.
He had left all his luggage at the hotel and had gone out for a walk . The centre of the town had been majestic, especially at night. While he had been walking, he had heard a voice say: "Police! Get down!". Tom had turned to see what had been going on, but he had been shocked when he had realised that the police officers had been shouting at him and pointing at him with their guns.
Now, he was in a tiny cell and he could not understand what was happening(...)
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10 May 2011
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libertybelle
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almost 90 percent of all stories are told in past tense.
Only direct speech is in present:
It was a sunny day when Jim met Susan.
"Hi, how are you?, he asked her.
If the story ends in "It had all been a case of mistaken identity." -
I don �t see the problem - they just start the story and build it up
in that genre.
If they had to start the story with the ending - they �d still have to start at the beginning to get to the end.
Perhaps I don �t quite understand the problem?
sorry
L
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10 May 2011
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magneto
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Hi Libertybelle!
Thank you for your quick reply...
Well, the thing is, the task was asking students to use flashback narration at some point and the whole point of that unit in their book was for them to get used to the idea of using the Past Perfect to "jump back" to a time in the past before the story begins.
I �m used to seeing such parts somewhere between the second and third paragraph, but not at the beginning of the story...and not with the Past Perfect used so extensively as in the quoted part above. The rest of the writing task is written using the "normal" tenses for a story (Past Simple and Continuous) and it makes sense, but the first two paragraphs...I �m not so sure about them...
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10 May 2011
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douglas
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Yes she can use that form, the way she has. |
10 May 2011
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ELOJOLIE274
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Hi!
maybe it sounds strange because the subject of the story is "tom smith" and we don �t know who he is...
but change the subject using the subject "I" and it sounds totally fine!!!
by the way, read this
"I �d never given much thought to how I would die - thought I �d had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would nort have imagined it like this." this is the first sentence of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer...
Elodie ;)
edit: by the way maybe you were taught that there are rules in literature, but as one of my teachers used to say "the best novels are those who break all the rules"... ;)
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10 May 2011
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magneto
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Thank you all for your replies! They are a huuuuuuge relief for me because this is one of my best students and I �d be really disappointed if she didn �t do well!
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10 May 2011
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teresapr
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I found this interesting. Have a look!
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10 May 2011
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magneto
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Thank you, dear Maria! Very useful link!
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10 May 2011
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