What Is The Best Way To Begin A Story With An In Medias Res Opening?

2026-07-23 08:26:45
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3 Answers

DanEllis
DanEllis
Story Interpreter Editor
Contrast is powerful. Open with a scene of intense action or emotion, and then immediately cut to a scene of stark calm or mundane routine. The jarring shift itself raises questions. How did they get from the battlefield to the quiet coffee shop? What psychological scars are they hiding under this normalcy? The 'middle' you started in continues to haunt the present, creating a dual timeline tension where the reader is constantly comparing the 'then' and the 'now' to understand the full story.
2026-07-24 09:22:02
21
AmyPayne
AmyPayne
Bookworm Worker
Use the confusion strategically. If your protagonist is disoriented—waking up with amnesia, teleported to a strange world—the reader's confusion mirrors theirs. This builds instant empathy. You're both figuring out the rules together. The key is to give the protagonist a clear, immediate goal even in their confusion (find water, escape this cell, understand a strange mark on their hand). That goal gives the narrative direction while the bigger picture remains obscured, satisfying the reader's need for progress even as the mystery deepens.
2026-07-26 02:20:09
2
AdamLee
AdamLee
Honest Reviewer Firefighter
What about video games? They do this all the time. You start on a thrilling, scripted mission that teaches you the controls while throwing you into the deep end of the story. It's the ultimate interactive in medias res. You're not just reading about the action; you're performing it. That sense of agency from the very first minute is incredibly powerful for immersion. Writers can learn from that feeling of immediate participation.
2026-07-27 19:09:54
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What's the emotional core? Loneliness? Ambition? Grief? Find an image or a small action that embodies that core emotion for your protagonist, and build the opening around it. If the core is longing, maybe they're watching a ship sail to a place they can't go.
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