The sound of the whistle was piercing, and I immediately released my hold in an almost Pavlovian response.
No orders were given. I pushed myself to my feet, and offered my hand. Gregory took it, and I pulled him to his feet. We didn't exchange words as we changed partners. Mikhail stepped into Gregory's place. The whistle came again, and my heart started racing. Everything ceased to exist except for me, my opponent, and application of clinical violence.
Have you ever come across a story or a film like this? Where you're thrust into the middle of a high-speed car chase, a pulse-pounding shootout, or a violent street brawl, with zero context of what is going on? You don't know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, what the inciting incident is... you just got thrown into the deep end, and you're trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
The term for this storytelling method is called in medias res, a Latin phrase that means "into the middle of things," and if you haven't used it, it's something I would highly recommend.
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| Who doesn't want to stay and watch the fireworks? |
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The Advantage of Jumping In With Both Feet
The major advantage of starting your story in the middle of the action like this is that it immediately throws your readers into an exciting situation. No matter the nature of the situation, whether it be a steamy encounter in an underground rave or a rooftop battle against a vampire, bringing your readers in like this provides an immediate hook that is likely to grab their interest. This is particularly true because it allows them to establish context as the story goes along, likely getting up to speed by the end of the first chaper (or the introductory scene if this is a short story).
The other advantage of an in media res opening is that it often allows you to do some literary sleight of hand that you couldn't get away with in other storytelling styles. For example, you could have a bloody shootout between a squad of cops and a gang of cartel enforcers with gunfire ringing out, and blood fountaining from wounds, only for a director to scream, "Cut!" so that you can reveal all of this took place on a film set, and the heroic, iron-jawed detective we were following is actually a Hollywood stuntman-turned-action star. You could also pull a time skip, showing that this scene is the ending of your book, before you rewind back to the start of events, with the audience wondering how you got to that opening scene, or even pulling a bait-and-switch with the scene your audience came in on being a scene from a novel the protagonist is actually writing. There are a lot of different advantages of this strategy.
However, as with any tool in your box, it's important to understand when to use it, and when not to.
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| Sometimes this isn't what you want to open up with. |
Not every story is best with an in media res beginning. Some stories are more deliberately paced, or they benefit from a slow start that leads into the story as it goes. Whether it's a cloak and dagger spy story that wants to start with tension and lead up instead of smash mouth action, or a mystery where a slow ratcheting of danger is more of a benefit to the case as it unfolds, this isn't a tool that every story and every writing style will benefit from. Not only that, but this tool follows the same rules as monsters in horror movies... the less you see of it, the more effective it is. Because if the book starts off with an in media res scene, that can be an effective hook to snag your audience with... but if every chapter starts off that way, it reduces it to a gimmick. While there are always exceptions (such as an action comedy story where part of the joke is the unconventional nature of the writing), generally speaking this isn't a great strategy.
As with all advice, take this with a grain of salt, and remain true to what feels right for your story. But if you want to have a sharp slap in the face to start your story with, and you haven't given this particular method a try yet, play around with it! It may just be the thing that sparks the progress you want.
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