How to write flashbacks?

Well I don't know why you're writing a story in an essay, but I assume that's a miscommunication :P

For starters (you might already know this), but there are two types of dialogue. Direct and indirect. Direct dialogue is what's in quotation marks. eg. Sally Power went to cafe. "Hello, could I get a cappuccino please?" she asked the assistant.

Indirect dialogue is basically a summation of what had happened. eg. Mum was really angry when I came home at four am. What could I have been doing out so late? What did I have to worry her like this? Did I even realize what effect this had on her. I reminded her I was twenty one now. It only fueled her tirade.

When I write flashbacks, I like to include a little bit of both. I start with phrasing sentences like "Hi, I'm Mike," he had told me. Keyword being HAD. Then I gradually go into normal phrasing. "Hi, I'm Mike," he told me. Then when the flashback is nearing an end, I go back into the first type of phrasing. It gets the reader knowing that it's obviously a flashback, but draws them in with a 'normal' kind of dialogue then reminds them its a flashback toward the end so you can integrate it back to the focus of the story. I'll give an example.

I was sitting at the table in a secluded corner of the cafe. The froth of my coffee shifted against my lip as I took a long swig. It must have been strange to see me stare at the wall so intently but I had a lot on my mind.

Mike was certainly a good man. He seemed kind and was certainly easy to talk to, but he left me very confused. I wasn't sure whether or not to organize another meeting. What he said was obviously an accident.

"Hello," he had said to me when he first arrived. Simple, elegant. I had responded accordingly.

"Mike,' he said with a small gesture toward himself, "You're Sally, right?"

I had nodded and smiled, "Indeed I am."

The conversation was good from there. Usual questions were asked. What do I do for a living? He was an engineer. My cheeks had reddened when I told him I was a Child minder at a daycare because I couldn't find work as a speech pathologist. He just laughed and told me there was no shame in that.

Then he said it. and i still don't know why. I had just met the guy.

"You know, you really are beautiful."

I wasn't sure i had heard him correctly. It wasn't even a date, Max told me to talk to him about speech pathology work.

"Sorry, what?" I asked.

"Oh," said Mike. His eyes slowly slid away from mine and toward the floor, "Sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to say that."

"Uh, thats okay," I said, "Thank you anyway." He had smiled slightly at that.

"I'm sorry," he had repeated, "I should really go. Thanks for your time." And then he was gone. Leaving me sitting here.

Hope it helps :)

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Right now you are the only one that needs to know when the flashback occurs. Dont worry about how the reader will perceive the time jumps just yet. Write the manuscript first. Use italics for your personal benefit for now if it helps. When you edit the finished work /then/ you can make sure that you have written something that readers can understand. Another thing that you should do is read books that utilize flashbacks and time travel so that you can have an idea of what makes sense or not. For example you could read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut or The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. These books have time travel and not necessarily flashbacks, but you'll get the idea. I couldnt think of any other examples right now. Time travel or flashbacks--you'll notice that there are no parentheses, italics, headers, etc in books that you read. Context is what's important.

Well, I could add a bunch to that, but I'll restrain myself and just say, flashbacks must be written in past tense. No need to italicize. Just make sure the reader understands that this happened in the past, otherwise, it's not a flashback.

Hope this helps!