Research for my Short Story ( major project)

                                                                                       Picture by Florian Klauer



   In this post, I will dive deeper into researching "in medias res" plot structure. In medias res is a Latin phrase meaning "in the midst of things", and true enough, a work that starts out in medias res kicks off somewhere in the middle of the plot. The use of in medias res as a plot structure goes back to the epics of ancient Greece: The Iliad and the Odyssey open in medias res and don't really go into back story until further on in the narrative. (In medias res: definition and examples).    When Opening in medias res its important to start strong, as there is no back story or intro its important to jump straight into the action in the way that from the very first sentence it interests the reader. One of the options for the opening scene is to jump straight into some sort of dilemma that the protagonist has to deal with, or putting him in a weird and unexpected situation that shortly leads to a choice, dilemma( nownovel ). 

"Beginning a story ( or novel, or chapter) in the middle of the action can generate the momentum a reader needs to stay engrossed. When we launch in medias res, the conflict can already be at a high pitch so our reader has something to worry about right away" - PAUL BUCHANAN( Begin from the Middle: How to Start Your Story In Medias Res, 2020)









References : 

In medias res: definition and examples https://thewritepractice.com/in-medias-res/

Picture - https://unsplash.com/photos/mk7D-4UCfmg

In medias res:6 ways to start stories from the middle https://www.nownovel.com/blog/begin-medias-res/

Writer's Digest. 2020. Begin From The Middle: How To Start Your Story In Medias Res. [online] Available at: <https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/begin-from-the-middle-how-to-start-your-story-in-medias-res> [Accessed 12 November 2020].

Comments

  1. Zoe Van-de-Velde15 November 2020 at 08:21

    As discussed you need to add more here - this is a start but please make sure you have good research for all aspects of your work - it would be helpful here to discuss an example of in medias res in depth https://www.nownovel.com/blog/begin-medias-res/ consider how you will be doing this as well and how you will plan your writing - you have much to do!

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