Starting a story in medias res, or in the middle of things, is a common literary technique that allows for immediate action and explanation as the narrative progresses. Examples can be found in works such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Shakespeare’s plays, and films like The Godfather. This technique can also be used as an exercise for writers to tell a story from a different perspective.
Every writer has to decide how to start a book, a play or a narrative. Many start at the beginning of a story, working their way through a middle and finally a conclusion, so that the story proceeds in a linear fashion, rarely looking back on anything that happened before the “beginning”. Another fairly common literary technique is to start in the middle of the story, which often takes some time to explain the actions that occurred before the narrative begins. This literary convention is called in medias res or medias in res, which means “in the midst of things.”
Beginning a story in medias res is a long-standing tradition in novel writing, the composition of oral stories and poetry, and now practiced in the modern novel, screenplay, or comedy. The earliest examples belong to Homer, who begins both the Iliad and the Odyssey in the thick of things. Readers will note, for example, that the Iliad begins with the Achaeans already in the midst of battling the Trojans, and the Odyssey begins with most of Odysseus’ journey home already over. The background, especially in the latter, is filled in as Odysseus keeps coming home and tells some of his strange adventures to the people he meets.
The advantage of starting a story in the middle is the ability to introduce action immediately, which can then be explained more fully as the narrative progresses. Such explanations are not always present. Sometimes, a narrative explores a very small piece of a larger story that’s so familiar that people will already know the backstory. Alternatively, slice-of-life stories can literally take a slice of someone’s story, a few days, a few years, and start there, without really creating a conclusion at the end of the work.
Some of the most famous works of fiction, plays, and screenplays use the convention of in medias res. In addition to Homer’s use of this literary technique, numerous Greek comedies make use of it, such as The Agamemnon. Dante’s Inferno, the beginning of the Divine Comedy, is often cited as one of the earliest examples and begins with the line “In the middle of the journey of our life” (In the middle of the journey of our life).
Many of Shakespeare’s works begin in the thick of things. Hamlet takes place after his father’s death, for example, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins in the midst of several arguments. These in-the-middle starts inspire immediate action with some dialogue dedicated to what came before the start.
Numerous films begin in medias res. The Godfather is a prime example, as is Star Wars: A New Hope, the first film in that franchise. Only later, through the next chapters and the previous chapters, was the whole story fully fleshed out.
Many writers find it can be a fun exercise to take a well-known short story and change it to start in the middle or near the end. Fairy tales work very well for this, and the storyteller might try to jumpstart Cinderella with her escaping the ball, or Hansel and Gretel with the witch’s death. This practice helps the writer learn to tell a story from a different perspective. Cinderella could inspire her true love with stories of her cruel past, or her stepmother’s terrible temper could be revealed in a series of flashbacks as Hansel and Gretel attempt to return home.
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