Drunk on Writing

So I'm back to working on my story "C.A.T.S."...a project I started god knows how long ago. Three years? Five years? Man, I should really think about actually ending something in my life other than my marriage. The issue now is that I want to incorporate flashbacks into the plot as a sort of backhanded explanation to what's going on. The problem is execution: I can't prologue the entire back story because it's shaping up to be quite lengthy. But I don't want to start the story with this subplot. I was thinking of intermittently throwing in bits and pieces, but will that slow the plot? Will readers lose interest? Do I think too much instead of writing?

Probably.

This conundrum led me to do some research on the proper use of flashbacks. From what I've discovered (and I'll post links to my findings below), flashbacks should only be used sparingly...which is no help to my cause. See, I'm not back tracking on a character's personal experience but rather certain events leading to the main plot. Another thing I learned is that the flashbacks should definitely be punchy and exciting or their presence may insight a yawn-fest. Most helpful, though, was the idea of using flashbacks when the main plot gets a bit laggy.

Other than that, my wasted time researching did not solve my quandry.

- http://storysensei.blogspot.com/2007/07/some-tips-for-using-flashbacks.html
- http://www.plotcafe.com/writing-techniques-using-flashbacks-to-enhance-your-fiction-stories/
- http://www.scribblepad.co.uk/writing-flashbacks.html
- http://www.coloradospringsfictionwritersgroup.org/archive/2002-04_article-the_art_of_flashback.pdf