I’ve managed writers and actors for 19 years, and I wanted to take a second to post about using devices in your scripts. Flashbacks, flash-forwards, dream sequences, voiceover, etc. I feel like all are theoretically fine, but I do think you have to really look at each instance carefully.
Why are you using that device? If using it somehow moves the story forward, great. If not, then what are you doing?
I also think the placement of these devices matters a ton. I’ve read so many scripts with flashbacks that don’t relate at all to what’s happening in the current time frame in that part of the script. It can feel really jarring when reading.
I’d also say to be careful overusing any device. Flashback within a flashback. Flashback to a dream sequence that plays out in montage. Voiceover for every character while in a flashback within a montage. Flashback from a character but the flashback is not from that character’s point of view…Complete chaos!
There are no real rules about these types of things. It’s different for every piece. Just be thoughtful about devices, and don’t use them just to use them.
As always, happy so answer questions.
I see your point, but I also believe that flashbacks can be an amazing part of the story that presents as a great reveal. In my script Jingle Bell Rock I have flashbacks throughout the script, seemingly unrelated to story...but it builds this great intrigue...what is this about, which becomes fully realized at the end of the script. I believe in my case it works...because the reveal is so large... Throughout the script there are tons of misdirections...that result in the surprise...and the great reveal. Just my two cents...
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@Curt. Absolutely. This is what Spencer was hinting at. Devices like flashbacks are OK if they are use well -- as in -- they move the story forward. So many TV shows are using voice overs right now. There's this 'be in the character's head' movement that's coming from book adaptations that I find tiring. Your Friends & Neighbors, Imperfect Women, Handmaid's Tale did it too...it can be effective but it often feels lazy.
I believe if VOs and flashbacks are used as tools and not abused they can be very effective. Personally, I like the use of a narrative VO and flashback dream sequences as a vehicle when they are needed.
Curt Samlaska I haven't read your script, but I would hope you believe it works. It would be weird if you were like "I agree, and my script is an absolute mess." Like I said in the post, there is no hard or fast rule, and I also said they are all theoretically fine, etc. I guess I don't get the point of your comment besides saying the name of your own script.
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Ray Fontenault So you're saying that you believe exactly what the post is about? Cool.
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See https://chimeziebihekuna.author-pages.com/ for more details.
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LOL…thanks Spencer, I wasn’t sure exactly how to take your comments. I have heard these concerns from other reviewers and have heard various objections. For example, some reviewers insisted that the flashback had to occur with the last character before the flashback occurred. I felt this was an arbitrary rule…the bottom line is use them when they work…there you go…
Spencer Robinson I find (V.O.) annoying most of the time. (V.O.) doesn't trust the audience or reader to understand or process the significance of the visuals or character. There are two movies I really love (Blade Runner & Dark City) that used (V.O.) in the theatrical release but are so much better in a director's cut without it. I don't like being spoon fed inner monologue or information. Trust me a reader or viewer to get it. Because if I don't, there is a flaw in character or visual. As for flashbacks, I agree they have to be strategic because you run into another problem. EXPOSITION. I also don't like being told about past. If that past is important, show it early or run it parallel to the main story, and let me connect the dots later. But don't try to explain it to me in dialogue. I've been rewatching 3 Body Problem again and they do this really well to keep the story informative by running the history (Flashback) in parallel to the main story to inform the future of events. Thanks for the post.
This is good to know. Thank you Spencer Robinson I will be honest, I like creative writing but there's a difference between using tools to amplify the story and using tools to get a potential managers attention. I'm guilty of trying to hard to prove my writing can be creative.... so I'll remember your words when I'm editing my work. Thank you
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This is so interesting. I think these devices are especially important for stories that do not begin at the very start, but instead begin in the middle or even near the end. In my story, it starts with a disaster and continues moving forward, while the backstory is revealed gradually in fragments. I do not present those fragments as full scenes, but weave them into the forward-moving scenes themselves, sometimes through the use of those devices.
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Some of my most favorite films use flashbacks: Citizen Kane, Sunset Blvd., Double Indemnity, Out of the Past, Once Upon a Time in America, The Usual Suspects, Memento, Forrest Gump. Some of those same films use voice-over too, along with Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Fight Club, Shawshank. But I would call it advanced screenwriting to learn how to use these devices effectively.
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Ihekuna Benedict I look for new clients via referral.
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Curt Samlaska So you've gotten notes on your scripts where people had issues with your use of flashbacks?
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Meriem Bouziani Um ok
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Eric Christopherson I didn't say flashbacks were bad. Not sure how you got that from my post.
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Spencer Robinson. I paid for a one hour consultation with a studio exec, and yeah...he couldn't get past how I structured my flashbacks. I have had probably 30 reviews and he is the only one that took issue with it. You know, I have learned to consider all recommendations, but not to act upon all of them...it is subjective. You just have to go with your gut because what one reviewer hates...another loves.
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You got me mixed up with someone else, Spencer.
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Eric Christopherson No I didn't
Well then you've misinterpreted my comments. I like flashbacks and voice-overs very much when they're done well. But doing them well isn't the easiest part of screenwriting to master IMO. That's all I meant to say.
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Spencer Robinson Really valuable insight. I’ve realized the same while writing devices like flashbacks or voiceover only work when they’re serving the story, not decorating it.
The point about placement really hit. When it doesn’t connect to the present moment emotionally or thematically, it breaks the flow instantly.
I think as writers, we sometimes use these tools thinking they’ll make the script feel more “cinematic,” but clarity and intent matter more than complexity.
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This really resonates, especially the idea of being intentional with every device. I’ve found that when something like a flashback is used just to explain something, it often weakens the present moment instead of strengthening it.
When it works, it usually feels like it’s adding emotional context or shifting how we understand a character, not just filling in information.
Otherwise it starts to feel like the story is stepping away from itself instead of moving forward.
Spencer, I hear you loud and clear!
I'm not really a flashback fan when it comes to writing scripts...that said, during the October 2024-April 2025 period, I worked with a producer named Dennis Erichsen to help script out his "Mental Lockdown" psychological thriller.
Because "Mental Lockdown's" lead character, Kenny Martin, was a suspect in the murder of his mother Ella, and had to spill the beans to a police detective named Nancy Brigati, Dennis wanted the story primarily told in flashbacks...beginning with the day Kenny's father John was robbed and murdered: 9-11-1984...Kenny's seventh birthday. (And that also was the day Ella started forty years of messing with Kenny's head.)
Other than that...as long as I can find a way to tell a story free of devices, I feel I'll be fine.
Thanks for sounding off...glad you're here on Stage 32!