Tony Tips Tuesdays™: Writing Emotional Flashbacks

Some of the most powerful moments in storytelling happen not in the present but in the past—specifically, through emotional flashbacks. These glimpses into a character’s history don’t just fill in background; they reveal pain, love, regret, or triumph that still shape who they are now.

Done well, an emotional flashback can change everything: deepen the character, shift the plot, and create that gut-punch moment that lingers in the reader’s soul.

But it has to be earned. It has to feel real.

Today on Tony Tips Tuesdays™, we’ll explore how to write flashbacks that hit hard and heal slow.

We’ll break down how to use them without disrupting your pacing, how to trigger them naturally, and how to make sure they elevate—not deflate—your story.

Let’s get into it.

🔥 Why Emotional Flashbacks Matter

Flashbacks aren’t just backstory—they’re emotional revelations. They allow your reader to experience a character’s defining moments as they lived them, not just hear about them.

They matter because:

• Readers don’t just want to know what happened—they want to feel how it shaped your character.

• They build empathy, especially for flawed characters.

• They allow internal conflict to emerge in vivid, memorable ways.

• They link past trauma or joy to present-day decisions.

If your character is haunted, hopeful, angry, heartbroken, or healing... a well-placed flashback can show us why.

🧠 When and How to Use Flashbacks

1. Trigger It with Emotion or a Sensory Cue

Memories often surface not because someone “thinks back,” but because something triggers them—a smell, a place, a name, a sound, or a wave of emotion.

✨ Example: Your character sees an old photograph. Suddenly, they’re back in the moment their mother left. The air smells like cinnamon and fear.

2. Keep It Focused

Flashbacks should serve a purpose. What emotional truth or information are you revealing?

Don’t use a flashback to dump history. Use it to change how the reader sees the character or moment.

3. Use Present Emotion as a Frame

Let the character’s emotional state in the present mirror or contrast what they experience in the flashback.

✍🏾 Example: They’re laughing now—but the memory that comes is full of sorrow.

4. Avoid Perfect Clarity

Memories are rarely linear. Let them be fragmented, foggy, or filtered by emotion. This adds realism and depth.

A flashback that’s “too neat” feels like a script. A messy one feels like truth.

5. Anchor Back to the Present

Make sure the return from the flashback is clean. Let the character react, shift, or reflect based on what they remembered.

The memory changed them—show it.

🖤 Examples of Emotional Flashbacks in Fiction

📚 Literature

• Beloved by Toni Morrison – Sethe’s flashbacks are visceral, nonlinear, and devastating. The past bleeds into the present.

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – Past betrayals haunt Amir, shaping his every decision. His memories are full of regret.

• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman – Flashbacks to Ove’s lost wife bring humor, heartbreak, and understanding to his gruff present self.

🎬 Film

• Inside Out – Flashbacks are used to show the bittersweet blend of joy and sadness. They’re layered with emotional complexity.

• Slumdog Millionaire – Every present-day answer leads to a flashback that explains how Jamal knows it. Flashbacks are the soul of the story.

• The Notebook – The entire narrative is a journey through emotional memory, anchored in love and loss.

📺 TV

• This Is Us – Masterclass in emotional flashbacks. Past and present timelines reflect and inform each other.

• Lost – Flashbacks explain why each character became who they are.

• Grey’s Anatomy – Uses flashbacks to unravel trauma, grief, and motivation.

🎮 Video Games

• The Last of Us Part II – Flashbacks of Ellie and Joel ground the player emotionally. They build heartbreak and motivation.

• Life Is Strange – Rewinds and flashbacks define the game’s emotional core.

⚔️ In S.O.L.A.D.™: The Past is a Battlefield

In S.O.L.A.D.™, emotional flashbacks are not dropped in for dramatic flair—they are soul-deep revelations that expose why these young warriors fight, trust, fear, love, and break.

One of the most heartbreaking and transformative flashbacks comes from Melanie in Book I of S.O.L.A.D., Chapter 8: No Mercy. As she speaks with Kevin on a hillside, she recalls the darkest moment of her life: hiding under her bed as a monstrous ogre destroyed her home and murdered her entire family. The memory floods her senses—the sound of its laughter, the feel of the ground trembling under its steps, the helplessness of being a powerless child in the face of evil.

What makes this moment unforgettable is its raw emotional honesty. Melanie isn’t just sharing trauma—she’s revealing her why. She fights not out of glory or ambition but out of a sacred need to protect others from feeling what she felt that night. Her flashback isn’t neat. It isn’t polished. It arrives mid-conversation, a jagged and weeping thing—and that’s why it works. It reveals who she is, what drives her, and why she refuses to sit on the sidelines.

And Kevin? His response is tender and sincere, but also layered with fear. He’s worried for her safety—perhaps even wrestling with his growing feelings for her—and urges her not to take unnecessary risks. But Melanie’s decision to keep fighting—even if it’s for the last time—reminds readers that some memories fuel our most courageous, if dangerous, choices.

These are the kinds of emotional flashbacks that stick with readers. Not because they’re traumatic—but because they are truthful. Because they change the tone, the character, and the trajectory of the story going forward.

💡 Writing Prompts: Emotional Flashbacks

1. A character hears a lullaby and flashes back to the moment they lost someone.

2. A woman smells tobacco and recalls the night her father left.

3. A soldier opens a drawer and finds a medal—cue the memory of who died to earn it.

4. A man laughs during dinner but suddenly flashes back to the night his wife left.

5. A teen tries on a jacket and remembers the fistfight it led to.

Use these prompts to connect past emotion with present change.

✍🏾 The Emotional Payoff of Flashbacks

When done right, flashbacks:

• Deepen emotional investment

• Reveal hidden wounds or motivations

• Connect plot points across timelines

• Let readers experience—not just be told—what shaped the character

If your readers cry, gasp, or pause after a flashback, you’ve done your job.

🎯 Final Thought: Memories Move Stories

“Memories don’t come neat. Let them arrive messy and sharp.”

As a writer, your job is not to tidy up your characters’ pasts. It’s to unpack them. Let the flashback interrupt, burn, confuse, or illuminate. Let it breathe on the page.

Because the past isn’t just a place—it’s a power.

Tony Tip™

“The most powerful scenes are often memories. Give them pain, color, breath, and aftermath. Let your reader remember too.”

Until next time—write from the depths, and trust the echoes of your characters’ pasts.