In Medias Res: Definition, Examples, and How to Use It
In medias res is Latin for "into the middle of things." It's the technique of beginning a story not at the beginning of events, but in the middle — often in the middle of conflict or action — and providing necessary backstory through flashbacks, dialogue, or allusion. It's one of the oldest narrative techniques in literature, used by Homer and still dominant in modern fiction and film.
In Medias Res
Begin in the middle of action or conflict.
The car is already moving. We don't know how they got in it yet.
Ab Initio (From the Beginning)
Begin at the chronological start of events.
We see how they got the car, why they're driving, and only then the journey begins.
Famous Examples of In Medias Res
"The Iliad" — Homer
The poem begins ten years into the Trojan War, not at the beginning. We start in the middle of a quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon.
Effect: Homer drops us into existing conflict immediately. The backstory of the war is assumed or woven in as needed.
"Hamlet" — Shakespeare
The play opens with guards encountering a ghost — an event that has already been happening. Hamlet's father has already been killed before we arrive.
Effect: We're immediately in the aftermath of a murder. The mystery is established before we've oriented.
"Moby Dick" — Herman Melville
"Call me Ishmael." The narrator is already reflecting on a voyage that has already occurred — we're entering his memory in progress.
Effect: The reflective tone is established immediately. Something happened; we're here to understand it.
"The Odyssey" — Homer
Odysseus is stranded on Calypso's island, trying to get home — the journey is already underway, the war already won.
Effect: Ten years of backstory is compressed into allusions and flashbacks rather than told sequentially.
"Catch-22" — Joseph Heller
Yossarian is in a hospital, and we're immediately thrown into his fractured wartime reality without orientation.
Effect: The disorientation IS the point — it mirrors the chaos and absurdity the novel is examining.
"Fight Club" — Chuck Palahniuk
The narrator has a gun in his mouth. We start at the near-end, then flash back to "three months ago."
Effect: The hook is extreme, and the whole first act becomes the story of how we got to this moment.
"The Hunger Games" — Suzanne Collins
We meet Katniss on the morning of the reaping — the world of Panem and the tradition of the Games already exist and are established quickly through natural context.
Effect: The world-building happens in motion. We learn by experiencing, not by receiving an info-dump.
"Gone Girl" — Gillian Flynn
Nick wakes up on the morning of his fifth anniversary. Something is already wrong — we're inside the tension before we know its source.
Effect: The reader senses disruption before it's named, creating instant unease.
Why In Medias Res Works
The fundamental problem with starting "at the beginning" is that beginnings are often boring. Before the inciting incident, nothing is at stake. Before we care about the characters, backstory is just information. In medias res bypasses this by starting where things are already interesting — and earning the backstory by making the reader want it.
When you start in the middle of action or conflict, you force the reader to ask questions: Who are these people? How did they get here? What happens next?Those questions are the engine of reading.
How to Use In Medias Res in Your Writing
Start at the moment of disruption
The most effective in medias res openings begin at the moment something changes or goes wrong — not three chapters before it, and not three hours after. Find the specific moment of disruption and begin there. This is often the same as your inciting incident.
Trust your reader to orient themselves
Beginning in the middle means beginning without full context. This is intentional. Don't immediately explain everything — let the reader piece things together. Confusion managed well creates engagement. Confusion allowed to persist too long creates abandonment. Give readers enough to follow the action; hold back what will become meaningful reveals.
Plant backstory naturally, not in info-dumps
The backstory has to come out eventually. The skill is weaving it in without stopping the story. A character's action can imply history. A line of dialogue can reveal a relationship. A setting detail can establish the world. The worst choice is to start in the middle and then immediately stop for two pages of exposition.
Use the "frame narrative" variation
One popular variant: begin at the near-end (a character in a dramatic situation), then flash back to "three months earlier" to show how they got there. Fight Club, Sunset Boulevard, and many thrillers use this. The opening scene creates a question — how did we get here? — that the entire rest of the novel answers.
When Not to Use In Medias Res
Not every story benefits from in medias res. Some stories work precisely because they follow a character from ordinary life into extraordinary circumstances — and the contrast between before and after requires showing the before. Character-driven literary fiction sometimes earns a slower start if the opening scenes are vivid and the character voice is immediately compelling.
The question to ask is: What is the first moment the reader needs to see?Sometimes that's the beginning. Often it's the middle.
Write the Story Worth Starting In the Middle Of
The best way to figure out where your story should start is to write it. Hearth's distraction-free editor and daily writing habit tools keep you drafting, discovering, and improving.
Start writing free