Why don't writers use this more? WEIRD WRITING TECHNIQUE

Рет қаралды 6,272

Күн бұрын

In this video I go over how to write Flash Forwards in your writing.
I know, flashbacks in books are divisive, some people hate them, some, like me, don't mind them at all.
Whatever the case, a lesser-seen writing technique that I've come across a few times lately is the flash forward. Specifically a kind of very short flash forward that punches readers in the gut!
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:29 What is a Gut Punch Flash Forward?
0:53 Example 1
2:10 Example 2
3:22 Example 3
4:11 Why I think it works
6:08 Example 4
7:57 Using it in a story
9:32 Three Final Tips
MY NOVELLA IN FLASH - GOLD FURY:
US link: www.amazon.com/dp/B093MKXBY5
UK link: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B093MKXBY5
MY WEBSITE:
www.kierenwestwood.com/
***
Writing is my passion, and I love to support other writers and help them develop their writing along with me. I want to help you tell your best stories.
if you'd like to be a part of that, consider hitting the subscribe button!
Thanks for watching!
Links:
MY FLASH FICTION COURSE:
www.udemy.com/share/103LYUAEA...
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Пікірлер: 58

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

MY FLASH FICTION COURSE: www.udemy.com/share/103LYUAEAcclpQQHoI/ MY NOVELLA IN FLASH - GOLD FURY: US link: www.amazon.com/dp/B093MKXBY5 UK link: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B093MKXBY5 JOIN MY DISCORD COMMUNITY!: discord.gg/c6gZS2p

@gamewriteeye769 Жыл бұрын

You're the chillest writer on Authortube. I love the relax, sit down, and here's some by the armchair-to-armchair vibe and advice, like two intelligently relaxed people.

@MeredithPhillipsWrites 2 жыл бұрын

I _love_ when authors do this. It almost always gives me chills. To me, it gives the character(s) life beyond the confines of the story that's being told and makes them seem more real and multifaceted. Maybe it's just today, feeling a little all over the place, but your story gave me a lump in the throat.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

It gives me chills as well! I love stuff that feels bigger than words on a page. Hard to do, but unmistakeable when you see it. Ah thank you! That story made Hayley cry, but it was 6am on a monday morning when she read it so who isn't a bit delicate then? 😂

@opollitico 2 жыл бұрын

"like small electric shocks" - wow 🤩

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

As soon as I tried to plot that stuff on a graph I knew that's exactly what it made me think of 😊

@opollitico 2 жыл бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting genius

@Monkeyonasuit 2 жыл бұрын

Hello, Kieren. You don't know me - although, in a philosophical way, you probably do, because you've probably been in my shoes as a beginning writer - but your videos have impacted me so much since I discovered you. I'm glad I looked up how to write flash fiction that one time. Thankfully, you're one of the few people out there who understand that flash fiction deserves its own tutorials. I've been following you ever since. Most other channels I watch about writing, while also helpful, tend to repeat the same things in different videos just to have material, or they would repeat things everyone else already says. Your videos reveal some really insightful information and the way you capture the thought behind the concepts you're teaching shows you know your material. I also love how you're not afraid to showcase your own writing in your videos. Keep it up, man. One day, you'll have millions of subscribers. Cheers!

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for this comment! It really does matter to me other writers find my videos helpful and I really appreciate you letting me know that. While I'm just not sure my content has a broad enough appeal to get much further in terms of subscribers/views, I do enjoy making it and if there's value in it for people like yourself, I hope I can keep doing it for a long while yet. Thanks again 🙂

@chrisroberts8974 2 жыл бұрын

Really cool technique that. I’m definitely going to try that in my own writing

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

It's one of those things you find yourself using every now and again and I'm always glad I have 🙂

@opollitico 2 жыл бұрын

It really is just so, so helpful when you use an example to illustrate your point at the end. Really hones in on the beauty of (in this case) the flashforwards but also writing more widely, you know?

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I think examples are everything. I can talk and talk and think and think about something, but until I have an example of it working or being put into practice it doesn't quite solidfy for me. Showing how stuff can be useful (or how I think it can anyway) is my favourite way to talk about writing I think.

@opollitico 2 жыл бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting and is the most powerful way, too

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

@@opollitico Hopefully! 🙏

@opollitico 2 жыл бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting definitely

@NicoleWilbur 2 жыл бұрын

This is an awesome technique - I’ve never heard anyone name it before but there’s a beautiful middle grade series I still love that uses this a few times. I think the author uses it to underline and increase the significance of events that we otherwise might not think of as significant (“she kept the note tucked in her drawer even when she was a mother herself”). Very cool! Thank you for this :)

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

That’s definitely a good use for it I think! ☺️

@dacrewordsmith 2 жыл бұрын

Great concept in this video, KW - I'm going to keep an eye out for an opportunity to implement this in my own writing.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

It’s a fun one to use! ☺️

@chriswimer6296 Жыл бұрын

Great video! And your last line in They’re Biting hit like a precision punch 🥊 😭 well done!

@KierenWestwoodWriting Жыл бұрын

Thank you, I really appreciate that 🙂 Thanks for watching

@angelikamueller2529 4 ай бұрын

First time I ever heard anyone mentioning this technique! It was very reassuring. I used it in my memoir "J'st to Live" to enhance the understanding that, and why, some of the peoples' lives I'm writing about ended much too early, and/or to demonstrate how their African American ghetto neighborhood would be deliberately uprooted and destroyed. For me it was the only way to (at times) transcend the immediacy of the situation and give their invisible lives the significance they deserve.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 4 ай бұрын

That's exactly the word, I think - significance. That's what I think it adds. Great to hear there are other writers out there employing this to good effect as well!

@JoeyPaulOnline 2 жыл бұрын

I really liked this, I always feel like I learn so much coming to watching what goodies you have for us. This technique gave me goosebumps, and gave me a lot to think about!

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Ah thank you 🙂 I like to find all the awkward little bits that make writing what it is. One by one maybe they don't do that much, but ots of them working together I think has to create an effect. That's what I'm hoping anyway!

@laurabesley7095 2 жыл бұрын

Love all these examples. Don't think I've ever done this. Will have to rectify this asap!

@chriswilliams6326 Жыл бұрын

Great examples. One of your best, Kieran. Thanks.

@KierenWestwoodWriting Жыл бұрын

Thanks Chris, much appreciated as always 🙂

@kenward1310 2 жыл бұрын

The work you put into your videos really shows. You've helped to make me a better writer. Thank you.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this comment ☺️ it made my day.

@derrickfoster5251 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this explanation. I am working on a piece and I used this flash forward without knowing why. It was so out of nowhere that I shared it with a friend who thought it was great. I didn't know what to do with the passage or why I chose to put it in (near the beginning). It certainly worked for character. Thanks again for your insight.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

It’s a really useful little technique I think! It can be a real attention grabber, sounds like that’s exactly what happened with your reader ☺️ Thanks for watching, I’m glad it could be useful!

@derrickfoster5251 2 жыл бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting Thank you! I'm a subscriber and look forward to your content.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

That’s great motivation for me, thank you ☺️

@shahcool007 11 ай бұрын

Watching this interesting video (keep it up), I couldn't help but think about what I believe could be the best example of this technique in literature, the opening line of One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 'Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.' I love this book and will always recommend it. And this also happens to be the most impactful opening line I've ever read.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 11 ай бұрын

Absolutely! That's a fantastic example and I agree, a brilliant opening line. Thanks fo much for watching and sharing your thoughts.

@shahcool007 11 ай бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting thanks to you as well for all your efforts :)

@pong6377 Жыл бұрын

This technique definitely reminds me of the movie y tu mama tambien. A big part of what made that movie feel so intimate and alive was the way the narrator zoomed in and out of the main story that was being shown through the screen. He would always mention things that happened in the past or will happen in the future that is related to the current scene being shown. It really made me feel emotional.

@KierenWestwoodWriting Жыл бұрын

Oh cool, I've heard of it but haven't seen it, I'll add it to my list, thanks! 🙂

@homebizproms Жыл бұрын

Very useful and appropriate. Thanks!

@nehukybis 2 жыл бұрын

Vonnegut loves flash forwards. He does this all the time in his novel Galapagos. He plays with the shortest imaginable flash forwards by simply putting an asterisk in front of a character's name if they are going to die before sunset. It should kill the suspense, but it actually kind of heightens it, since you don't have any idea *how* they're going to die. At first it's kind of funny, mostly because of how blunt it is. Then a bunch of characters start getting asterisks all at once.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Hey Aaron, how've you been? 🙂 Huh, that' sounds pretty unique. Definitely not something I've heard of before, though admittedly I haven't read much of him, if that's the kind of thing he does a lot of.

@nehukybis 2 жыл бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting Can't complain. We live in interesting times. I've finished a novel and I'm trying to find an agent. I definitely preferred the writing part of this process. I don't object to flash forwards in other people's writing, but I would never use them myself, and it took me a day or so to realize why. I think there are two really different theories as to what you're doing when you're writing fiction. And I mean theories in the sense of systems or paradigms rather than hypotheses. The original one is you're telling a story, like you would tell a child or your spouse, and you make little digressions all the time. There's a deliberate distance between the writer and the reader, with a kind of dialogue between them in the subtext. I can write that way, but these days I'm in the second camp, which is fiction as a kind of daydream. Everything's happening in the moment. And the only time I leave the present is when the POV character is reminiscing about the past, or planning for the future. Any digression tends to wake the reader from the dream. It reminds them they're reading a story. It's one of the reasons I prefer writing in first present these days. So unless the POV character has precognitive visions, the only flash forwards I'm going to get involve fears or desires rather than facts.

@chuckwieser7622 2 жыл бұрын

Good video and great tip. On your example, I don't feel like it was as much a flash Forward as going in and out of time for your protagonist if that is the sheriff is. But I really liked it. I think that flashing back and forth could be an excellent part of the story to continue throughout. It makes it very interesting where exactly that person is and their reality.

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Hey, thanks for watching and for the feedback. I think you make a really good point there! Perhaps this is a technique that would be better utilised in a longer piece, or used several times. It’s just hard to get that kind of story into a video that’s not half an hour long! ☺️ thanks so much for watching!

@chuckwieser7622 2 жыл бұрын

@@KierenWestwoodWriting you're welcome man, thanks for your videos. And I think you really demonstrated the technique well with your examples. And I also think you stumbled on a cool opening for story. I was thinking about it, and it could be a cool story where the sheriff has these flashbacks and flash forwards, between his time as a kid and when he's old and dying, and then maybe the present could be when a lot of bad crazy stuff happens. Kind of this out of time overwhelming reflections of the protagonist brought on by stress and trauma. Anyways just an idea, use it if it helps. Let me know if you like it. Thanks again

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, as it goes that piece is one of about 40 microfictions I’m stringing together, and I touch on his story a few times ☺️

@richardbishop3620 2 жыл бұрын

interesting idea - thanks for sharing - I'll give it a try

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

it might just add a little something here and there!

@ATMcGWriter 2 жыл бұрын

Kieren your content is absolutely brilliant and incredibly helpful. I am grateful I have found you. The burning question I have is how many Vans caps do you own? 🤣

@KierenWestwoodWriting 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much! I'm glad it cna be useful. As far as the caps go...I think they own me at this point!

@iamluyu Жыл бұрын

Ohh, i find this very interesting. However, I'm currently writing a 1st person deep pov story so, even though I would love to give those 'hints' to the future, it really doesn't make sense. Like, how do I write down that extra information in a novel in which the characters only talk/think about the things they are currently experiencing? Obviously, no one can predict the future, so would it be possible to portray it in a subtle almost indirect way? It already came to my mind to try to use those typical cliché phrases as 'i didn't know why but I felt like (x character) would stay in my life for a very long time', or the sudden use of a 'little did I know', but, again, they feel so oversee/not properly crafted. I want to include something personal in my story, not copy paste a stereotypical expression of suspense... Idk, just my thoughts... I fear this method is incompatible with the 1st person deep pov😂, but regardless, if anyone does have a suggestion, feel free to leave down below! Thank you in advance 💕

@KierenWestwoodWriting Жыл бұрын

That’s a really good point, I can’t see a way this would work in first person limited. I think you’d have to break the narrative voice with an outside device or a different POV or something like that in order to make it work. I guess not every technique can work, but it’s something to keep on the back burner for future stories ☺️

@RikyToboga 2 жыл бұрын

Excelente. Ojalá pudieras leer el cuento: "El bosque pulenta" de Fabián Casas. Usa muy bien este recurso y es para mí, junto con Un recuerdo navideño de Capote, el mejor cuento que he leído. Y de verdad que he leído mucho. Saludos y muchas gracias por tu contenido, me está ayudando en estos días con mi falta de ritmo.