Writing Focus: In Media Res

Many of us enjoy reading things from the beginning. You get a fair sense of what is going on and you learn what is happening with the narrator as they journey throughout their literary adventure. However, another interesting and exciting way to begin a story is to drop a reader right in the middle of a story, and that’s where in media res comes in!

What Is In Media Res?

In Media Res translates from Latin as ‘in the midst of things’ – quite literally starting something in the middle of the action. Instead of easing the reader into your story using an exposition and a rising action, you drop the reader straight into the main conflict. This is an explosive and engaging way to start a story, if done right. The use of in media res will most of the time guarantee the use of flashbacks or talk of memories before the action. Although it requires a lot of work, it can immerse the reader straight into your story with an explosion!

Tips

Although starting the story from the middle can be interesting and engaging, it can also cause confusion. Try to avoid using too many confusing terms, or you may lose the reader’s attention from the beginning. An easy way to do this is to describe as you go along, and any new terms that the reader should know about could be described as you write. This will make understanding what is happening slightly easier.

Ensure that you make a list of questions that your piece will pose right from the get-go, and think about how you will answer these questions later on in the story. Leaving questions unanswered can, again, cause confusion and may put the reader off. Utilise flashbacks and conversations about past events to discuss things that happened before the introduction of the main conflict, as these will help your reader to gradually piece together what happened before and leave your story feeling a sense of completion.

Prompts

Looking to start with a bang? Check out these prompts to get you started!

1. Your character is introduced as his / her car crashes into another car. Develop the story, starting from the point of impact and exploring the moments before and after the crash through the use of flashbacks.
2. Your character is dying after sustaining an injury in a fight. As with the prompt above, use flashbacks and conversations to piece together what has happened beforehand to cause the fight and how this affects aspects of the character’s life.

Although a story utilising in media res can be incredibly difficult to pull off, it can be an explosive and attention-grabbing way to entice readers into your story. It takes time and care, but doing this may just give your story that extra oomph that puts it above the rest!

Special thanks to elixir and Goddess_Of_Muse for editing!