Flashbacks

Let's chat about flashbacks. Not the kind you get from past drug use (not that I'd know about that from my high school days. Ahem.), but writing flashbacks. I've spent enough time talking about eating ladybugs, I thought I might chime in with a, you know, bonafide post about writing (by the way, for those interested, the ladybug I put into my mouth actually survived my oral ordeal. Hollywood's interested in that story. Nicholas Cage wants in. He's proposed the title "Ladybug: Eat Hard." But that's neither here nor there).

I've heard from both sides. One writer told me flashbacks are a sign of weak writing. I disagree with him, but I know they can be over-used. I'm still new to writing and learning how to do it. Think I'll always be learning. But, to me, I can't write without flashbacks. The past informs the present/future. They're echoes like ripples from a pebble tossed into a lake. Everything's connected and begins in the past.

Now, do flashbacks stop the the current flow in a tale? Yeah, maybe. But I think they add resonance. I'm currently working on an adult thriller that's practically half flashbacks. Too much? I don't know. But the tale wouldn't have the heft without them. I'd love to hear from other writers on the topic. And readers, too.