Writerly Ways

[cornerofmadness]

I'm still rather tired out and lacking motivation but as I was wrapping gifts today I was half watching Hudson & Rex which is about all I ever do (Not a mystery show I'm very invested in but it has a cute dog (who is the least realistic police dog ever)) and this episode brings me back to a point I made a while back with prequels.

When you want to do a flashback (or prequel) you need to be sure of what you want to convey and how effective it'll be. In the above mentioned show it tried hard to add tension with Hudson and Rex's first case together with the well the dog's handler is dead so we're most likely going to euthanize the K9 (something the united States stopped doing in the Clinton era, not sure about Canada where this takes place) But here's the thing it's going back and forth between 3 years in the past and the present where Rex IS Hudson's partner so we know for a fact that Rex isn't euthanized.

So there is NO tension and that is something we have to worry about when we're doing a flashback. You can't build tension when the reader/viewer already knows the answer. We need to be given new information or else the flashback feels pointless or at least a partial waste of time. Learning how Hudson and Rex first met = good use of flashback, trying to make me worry that Rex will be put to sleep = waste of my time. I know he isn't. I'm not going to invest in something I already know (Prequels have even bigger issues with this).

For me, a flash back needs to advance the present plot or fill in backstory we need (or at least want to have). Hazbin Hotel did a pretty good job of this with both Alastor (though his backstory was in the old notes but you can't b e sure they'd be considered canon any more) and Vox's (making so many fan theorists happy) Both flashbacks showed us how they ended up where they were and how they are. Yes we know they both end up overlords in hell but seeing how it happened was character building.

So I guess what I'm saying is know what you wnat from a flashback and be careful as to how you attempt it.

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ETA - Holy hell just as I posted I saw Rob & Michele Reiner were found dead today, a suspected homicide.

Comments

[spikedluv]

I felt like that flashback was supposed to be mainly about the conflict between Charlie and Renley, which was silly because Charlie really did need to be trained to handle Rex, which is what happened in the end, so...

[kitarella_imagines]

thanks for the links. Yes the Reiner situation is unbelievable isn't it! Like the Gene Hackman one was.

[cornerofmadness]

That one was scary too. This one is just sad

[kitarella_imagines]

Yes, what happened to Gene Hackman made me set up my Lasting Power of Attorney ASAP. (not sure what it's called in America but it's where you choose someone who will help you manage your affairs when you get old and frail)

I don't want to end up in Gene and his wife's situation, I can't believe NO ONE checked up on them regularly and it was the security guards/whoever that found them.

[cornerofmadness]

It's called the same thing here. I need to do that and get a will. I had the appointment, had to cancel it, never to remake it. Sigh.

I used to be a home health doctor. It didn't surprise me in the least

[kitarella_imagines]

Oh yes please get an LPA and a will to keep yourself safe.

Yes, and it wasn’t just Gene Hackman that worried me, it was my mum too. She refused to make an LPA because she has always been dangerously independent, so as she lost more and more mental capacity she got into trouble going out of her flat, walking for miles and getting lost. She had to be rescued many times by the police or ambulance etc.

I can only imagine the situations you’ve seen as a doctor. The nuclear family instead of the extended family is not ideal when people get old, is it.

[cornerofmadness]

Yeah I plan to do it.

Sorry about your mom. that is always rough. I've been lucky in that respect.

However even having family doesn't always help. Both of my aunts (sister in laws to mom and dad) are showing signs of dementia, especially the one married to my uncle who passed this spring. She has four kids and NONE of them will help out. I keep telling the neighbors to call the cops who will get things in action that will force her kids to take care of her (she wanders the town at night, banging on neighbors' doors at 3 in the morning. Mom and Dad can't do anything because they're technically not related and her son is POA)

[kitarella_imagines]

Good 😊

Oh, my mum. She has always been a big, strong, angry, unpredictable woman, so tbh I didn't really notice her sliding into dementia because she has always done and said extremely weird things to me and my family. I learned very young to keep out of her way and see her as little as possible as she just got angry all the time, she was always angry. My friends often say 'why do you bother with your mum? She just hurts you.' But despite our difficult relationship I wasn't going to refuse to help her. I liaised with A LOT of people and although it took 2.5 years to get it sorted, we got there in the end. I'm glad she is now safe in a care home.

I didn't realise you're not on my access list so you won't have seen all the posts about my mum's situation. I think I will add you to my access list because I like and trust you. Obviously I don't expect you to read all the posts about my mum! lol.

That is very sad about the kids not helping their mum. In my experience that means kids had a very bad relationship with their parent, but obviously I don't know your aunt's situation.

Yes the cops will start the ball rolling, they did with my mum.

What's POA? I thought it meant Power of Attorney but probably not.

[suzume]

I saw that earlier today! (re: Rob & Michele Reiner). I was quite shocked!

[cornerofmadness]

It's horrible all around