Flashback

Flashbacks are used when your hero has to face memories; when he/she has to relive the past, either intellectually or emotionally, to make the action and story MOVE FORWARD.

Be careful not to use a flashback to expose an element you forgot to establish previously (see preparation-pay off).

Then you would be like people who, as they tell a joke, realize they forgot part of it, get mixed up and start again. And the joke is a flop.

We understand what the joke was getting at, but the comical effect is lost. We say the joke wasn’t properly told. You wouldn’t like people to think that of your story.