In Medias Res: How To Hook A Reader
Hannah Lee Kidder
NovelPad Author
If you're looking for a way to grab your readers by their little faces and tell them to get excited about your story, here's how.
Writing in medias res is a powerful storytelling technique that has been employed for ages across various forms of literature and media. It drops readers directly into the middle of the story’s action, which can capture attention from the very beginning and create an immediate sense of intrigue.
What is In Medias Res?
In medias res is Latin for "in the midst of things." In literature, we use this phrase to refer to a story opener that starts while the action of the story is happening. Instead of a narrative opener, like the "once upon a time" opener, rolling setting description, exposition, or a character profile, the reader is dropped directly into some high action sequence to get the story off to a hopping start.
Why Start In Medias Res?
Starting a story in medias res is a gripping way to begin. You can pull your readers right into the action, setting up questions to answer later, and intriguing them to keep reading.
Using a narrative opener can sometimes risk losing your reader with a snappier attention span. One of my all-time favorite books is Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, and when I recommend it to people, I generally say to read the first few pages, skip five chapters, and pick up from there. Novels used to be slow. Like, s...l...o...w. There were just so few of them, that it was hard to lose a reader!
These days, the book market is oversaturated with every kind of book a reader could want. That means the more interesting you can make those first couple pages, the better off you are. When a reader is skimming in a bookstore (brick-and-mortar or web), the first things that grab their attention are the title and cover. If your title and cover get them, the next step is to nail those first paragraphs when they skim the page.
That’s basically your sales pitch. Put some real effort into crafting an amazing opener for your book that can snatch your reader up and make them need to read the rest of it.
In medias res can help with that essential point in your books’ "sales pitch".
Examples of in medias res in film and literature
Here are some solid examples of stories that employ in medias res.
I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
This novel opens with the main characters lying on the floor during a bank heist. We are introduced to the point-of-view character and his friends, their dynamic, and the story's tone right away.
Opening snippet from I Am The Messenger:
The gunman is useless.
I know it.
He knows it.
The whole bank knows it.
Even my best mate, Marvin, knows it, and he’s more useless than the gunman.
The worst part about the whole thing is that Marv’s car is standing outside in a fifteen-minute parking zone. We’re all facedown on the floor, and the car’s only got a few minutes left on it.
"I wish this bloke’d hurry up," I mention.
"I know," Marv whispers back. "This is outrageous." His voice rises from the depths of the floor. "I’ll be getting a fine because of this useless bastard. I can’t afford another fine, Ed."
"The car’s not even worth it."
"What?"
Marv looks over at me now. I can sense he’s getting uptight. Offended. If there’s one thing Marv doesn’t tolerate, it’s someone putting shit on his car. He repeats the question.
"What did you say, Ed?"
"I said," I whisper, "it isn’t even worth the fine, Marv."
"Look," he says, "I’ll take a lot of things, Ed, but…"
I tune out of what he’s saying because, quite frankly, once Marv gets going about his car, it’s downright pain-in-the-arse material. He just goes on and on, like a kid, and he’s just turned twenty, for Jesus’ sake.
This quick snippet of the opener covers a lot of ground! Not only are we starting the story during the inciting incident, which sparks interest, but we get a lot of characterization quickly. We learn the character names and ages, we know Ed is a bit of a smartass, Marv is uptight, and neither take life too seriously, due to the conversation they’re having during an active armed robbery.
It sets the tone of the narration effectively, while also stirring up tons of questions for the reader to be interested in reading on.
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Ocean’s 8 opens on Debbie Ocean in prison. She is advocating for her own parole, convincing the board that she is a changed woman and is ready to be a law-abiding citizen to lead a simple life. Directly after she is released, she performs a series of small cons to show the audience that, jk, she’s actually very sneaky and very good at it.
This opener gives us several questions: Who is Debbie? Why is she in prison? Is she actually a changed person? What will she do next?
Following the opening sequence, we get to see how she’s actually a brilliant con artist and her performance to gain parole was just another part of the game.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
This novel gives us a slower paced in medias res opener. The first Event of the book is Nick, our main character, learning that his wife, Amy, is missing. But we get some build-up to it, with Nick waking up, going about his day a bit, speaking with his sister, then going home and finding the scene of an apparent kidnapping.
Rather than starting with the inciting incident from the very first line (like we saw in I Am The Messenger), this book winds us up a bit. We get to see Nick stumbling on and on about how smart and damaged he is (very characterizing), as well as a brief journal entry from his missing wife’s perspective, before we actually get into the inciting incident: Amy’s missing.
Here’s the opener:
When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The shape of it, to begin with. The very first time I saw her, it was the back of the head I saw, and there was something lovely about it, the angles of it. Like a shiny, hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the Victorians would call a finely shaped head. You could imagine the skull quite easily.
I’d know her head anywhere.
And what’s inside it. I think of that too: her mind. Her brain, all these coils, and her thoughts shuttling through those coils like fast, frantic centipedes. Like a child, I pictured opening her skull, unspooling her brain and sifting through it, trying to catch and pin down her thoughts. What are you thinking, Amy? The question I’ve asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?
While this is one of many of Nick’s musings that separate the opener from the inciting incident, it does many effective things.
It introduces us to Nick and hints at how elitist and annoying he is via lyrical musings about what his wife is thinking while he openly admits that he simply hasn’t asked her. Particularly the "What have we done to each other?" line gives us some foreshadowing: These people will ruin each other.
He speaks of her with simultaneous awe and respect under a palpable sense of loathing and bitterness. Nick has some complicated feelings about his wife, and he is wildly irritating.
The Conjuring (2013)
Many horror films open in medias res, because you can cut right to the scary. Opening in other ways can be intentional and stylistic, but most horror fans are there for the quick thrill, so many mainstream horror pieces will open this way. The Conjuring is no different—we open on a story from the Warrens, essentially ghost hunters, as they tell the story of a haunted doll they encountered on a previous job. We get that immediate introduction to the Warrens, their job and goals, and the general vibe of the film.
Tips for using in medias res
1. Be sure it suits your style and story
In medias res isn’t for everyone, and it isn’t for every story! If the tone of your story is a bit more meandering, thoughtful, or slow-paced, you might be better opting for one of those wind-up "once upon a time" type openers.
2. Choose a good moment
Starting in the middle of anything won’t benefit you. The scene you choose to open with is crucial. Begin with a scene that immediately captures attention and raises questions. It should be exciting, dramatic, or emotionally charged. It should also appropriately set the tone for the rest of the story.
One more thing to keep in mind: Do we need to care about your character in this scene? If the effectiveness of the scene hinges on the character being likable, relatable, or sympathetic for readers, then you’ll need to choose a scene that gives us just enough of your character to latch onto.
3. Nail the opening line
Opening lines are important for any type of book opener, but when you’re dropping us directly into the action, that first line is even more important. In I Am The Messenger, we get "The gunman is useless." This is a great opening line because it sparks immediate interest and action—there is someone with a gun! It’s also a strong tone setter, because of how casually it’s presented. The character is making a sassy judgment about the guy with a gun. Just in that one line, Zusak accomplishes so much.
4. Provide just enough context
While you want to engage readers right away with excitement and intrigue, it’s important to include enough context for it to make sense. There should be lots of unanswered questions and mystery, certainly, but the scene shouldn’t be floating in space.
Give your readers something to grab onto and center the scene. Introduce key details and elements about the setting, characters, and initial conflict without overwhelming them with backstory or excessive exposition.
5. Engage readers with unanswered questions
Be sure that starting in medias res actually provides questions for your reader. Introduce intriguing elements or conflicts to pique your readers’ curiosity and compel them to keep reading to find the answers. The cycle of questions and answers helps maintain engagement throughout the story.
7. Transition smoothly
After you’ve got an iron grip on the readers’ attention, it’s time for a smooth transition into the main narrative. Gradually provide additional information and context as the story progresses to avoid abrupt shifts that can confuse or disengage readers.
8. Remember payoff
The main point of beginning a story in medias res is to grab audience attention by presenting questions. A question in literature is like a promise to your reader: This question will be answered. Be sure the narrative progression and revelations can satisfy those questions and promises.
Pros and cons of in medias res
Like any storytelling technique and literary device, in medias res has its advantages and disadvantages.
Pros of writing in medias res
Here are some reasons to consider using in medias res.
1. Immediate engagement: Opening in medias res can grab readers right away, plunging them into the middle of your story’s action, conflict, or inciting incident. This creates an immediate sense of intrigue, making them eager to keep reading.
2. Heightened suspense and tension: In medias res builds suspense and tension right from the start, making readers wonder what led to the current situation. They will want to keep reading to uncover the cause of events that preceded.
3. Effective storytelling structure: In medias res can be a part of non-linear storytelling structures, which provides writers with more creativity. You can introduce flashbacks, timeshifts, and alternate perspectives, which enhance the complexity and depth of the narrative.
4. Quick immersion: This method can drop your readers right into your story’s world, letting them experience the setting, characters, and conflicts firsthand. This immersive quality can help establish a strong connection between the readers and the story from the start.
In general, any obvious "narrative element" will remind your reader that they’re reading a story. This can include exposition and framing devices. In medias res skips right over that.
Cons of writing in medias res
But here are a few things to be cautious of when writing in medias res.
1. Potentially confusing/off-putting: Plunging readers into action without sufficient context can lead to confusion. It might take some time for readers to understand the setting, characters, and dynamics at first, which could be a barrier to engagement and comprehension.
Avoid this problem by giving your readers just enough context to get a footing in your universe. However, being confusing or off-putting could also be an intentional choice! This Is How You Lose The Time War is one of my favs, and it opens in absolute confusion and chaos. Still a great read! There are no hard rules to writing, just make sure that whatever you're doing, you're doing on purpose.
2. Potential loss of anticipation: By skipping buildup to the main events, starting in medias res may diminish the sense of anticipation and escalation of tension that could be achieved through traditional chronological storytelling.
To avoid this problem, be sure not to reveal too much in your opening scene, and leave plenty to be revealed and built up to later.
3. Messy timeline: If not done well, telling a story out of linear order can just seem confusing and disorienting. Abrupt shifts in time or perspective might confuse readers and hinder the ability to follow along, which can be disengaging and make them lose interest.
Avoid this by carefully structuring your non-linear stories in a way that is logical and followable.
4. Could seem cheap: Sometimes, new writers try to employ this literary technique by making their opener the most interesting, exciting, insane thing they can think of, then their story doesn’t always measure up to it. This might make it seem like a quick shortcut to an interesting opener, rather than an intentional story device.
Avoid this by being thoughtful and intentional with your stories! Don’t use in medias res as a cheap shortcut to make your story seem more exciting than it is, because that won’t fulfill the promises your opener makes to the reader.
Writing in medias res offers authors a compelling tool to create a narrative that is immediately interesting. While there are challenges in terms of clarity and pacing, the advantages of engaging readers from the start make it worth considering. By carefully balancing elements of storytelling, providing context, and delivering a satisfying resolution, authors can harness the power of in medias res to craft compelling narratives that resonate.
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