Should You Start in the Middle?

               There’s a writing technique called In Medias Res which means, simply, to start in the middle of the story.  Very often this is where the story should begin, right in the thick of things with plenty of action.  Too often beginning writers think they have to lay out the entire back story, a sometimes painfully boring exercise that’s not only tedious, but frequently unnecessary.

                Rather than see how the criminal wound up in prison, begin with his escape.  You can always use other techniques (flashbacks, dialog) to fill in the needed details as to how he got there. But by starting at an exciting moment you hook the reader in immediately.  Show the bride wavering at the altar, about to make a run for it.  You can reveal why later.  Have the terrorists already in place, leaving bombs to explode, rather than start with their first meeting about what they want to do.

                In Medias Ras doesn’t always have to use flashbacks, but it quite commonly does.  In my coming-of-age literary novel, Pinholes Into Heaven we meet a grown man traveling by train.  Much of the story is told in flashbacks as he recalls his upbringing in a small Midwest town.  Because his journey by rail is such an important part of the story, I chose to weave it in throughout, rather than begin with his childhood and take him chronologically up to the reasons for the train trip.

                This isn’t to say that every story has to begin in the middle.  It’s simply one device to consider, as you think about how best to tell your tale.  Maybe your story starts when a young boy moves to a new town.  That’s the beginning, period.  You don’t need to jump ahead.  Or when a meteor hits the earth.  Or when a woman dies in childbirth.  You have to analyze your own story and see if this technique would benefit, or harm, your plot.

                In my play, “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” a man has just been admitted to the hospital with a serious injury.  Later the details unfold as to who he is, why he’s the way he is, and what he needs to do for redemption.  What if I had chosen to show him at work, at home, dealing with his kids, then getting injured?  It would have taken much too long to have a sense of urgency.

                Another great use for In Medias Ras is as a clever cure for writer’s block.  Some writers stare at a blank page for days because they want the perfect opening line and can’t think of one.  They should just jump into the middle of the story and start writing.  Or write the ending first.   You can always go back later, and fill in the part you skipped.  And, who knows?  You might even discover that your story’s best beginning is right in the middle, where you least expected it to start.