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Emerging writers often find it challenging to transition in and out of memory, "flashback," or narrative backstory. Given that most of our consciousness is memory (who we are, who we're married to, how we got here, what we're supposed to be doing today), it would seem to be an easier proposition to approach memory on the page — and it is! But writers tend to overthink things and either mimic unhelpful techniques or neglect memory altogether. Let's talk about how to avoid the pitfalls of transitioning into and out of memory, flashback, or narrative backstory; learn how to represent memory accurately, and how not to write yourself into a flashback corner.
Rebecca Makkai is the author of the New York Times bestselling I Have Some Questions For You as well as four other works of fiction. Her last novel, The Great Believers, one of the New York Times’ Best Books of the 21st Century, was a finalist for both the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and the 2018 National Book Award, and was the winner of the ALA Carnegie Medal and the LA Times Book Prize among other honors. A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow, Rebecca teaches graduate fiction writing at Middlebury College, Northwestern University, and the Bennington Writing Seminars, and she is Artistic Director of StoryStudio Chicago.