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Q&A Should a flashback be in past tense or past perfect?

I'd go with past, actually. If you use past perfect, there's no need to italicise, is there? It's effectively not a flashback, but just narration. Flashbacks are meant to take on an element of imme...

posted 12y ago by Lucy V. Morgan‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T02:02:11Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/4346
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Lucy V. Morgan‭ · 2019-12-08T02:02:11Z (over 4 years ago)
I'd go with past, actually. If you use past perfect, there's no need to italicise, is there? It's effectively not a flashback, but just narration. Flashbacks are meant to take on an element of immediacy, of being dragged into a moment re-lived. (In fact I've actually switched to present tense for flashbacks with no reader confusion. Indicate that you're about to "remember" something, use italics...you'll be fine. Flashback is over when italics end).

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2011-11-01T18:05:09Z (over 12 years ago)
Original score: 3