This could be in the first chapter, we see the characters running from a dragon, or sitting in the principal's office after a prank gone awry. It is starting somewhere other than the natural starting point in the story. This is more than skipping unnecessary backstory. In medias res is a Latin phrase meaning “in the midst of things.” It's used as a literary term to explain when a story or scene starts with a character in the middle of the action. You want to hit the ground running with an opening line that puts your main character right into action. You want to start a scene in the middle of things. ![]() That's the job of exposition: to set up the character in their world and disrupt them with the inciting incident.īut you don't want to start on the day they were born or with a ton of unnecessary backstory that will bore the reader. No, I mean in the larger story of this character's life, where does this particular episode or story begin? When I say where, I don't necessarily mean with setting, although that's part of it. One of the first tough decisions writers make when beginning a story is how to start, or more accurately, where to start the story. Let's find out what it is and how you can use it for your story today. ![]() But what if there's a better place to begin the story? One that will hook your reader and keep them turning the page? Ancient storytellers understood the power of beginning in medias res. ![]() Beginning writers often start stories with a ringing alarm clock, following the protagonist's daily routine.
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