Open with a bicycle courier halfway across the city and the address smudged by rain.Reader must learn: what is in the package, and who paid double to have it there by six.
Open as a boy presses Send and sees which group the message has gone to.Reader must learn: what it said, who it was about, and who reads it first.
Start as a gardener pulls the tenth weed and learns what the first nine were.Reader must learn: whose seedlings they were, and how long they had been waited for.
Begin as a full bag of marbles splits open at the top of the school stairs.Reader must learn: whose marbles they are, and who was supposed to be carrying them.
Begin as a girl lets go of the rope swing over the lake, a second too early.Reader must learn: who dared her, and what she promised herself on the walk up.
Begin as a phone leaves a hand above a storm drain.Reader must learn: what message was on the screen, and who has not read it yet.
Begin with a skater's feet going out from under him in front of the judges' table.Reader must learn: what the jump was for, and what he decides while he is still sliding.
Begin with a tower of library books leaning past the point of no return in a silent reading room.Reader must learn: why she needed all fourteen at once, and who she is hiding from.
Drop the reader in as a boy on a borrowed sled is halfway down the hill and heading for the hedge.Reader must learn: whose sled it is, and what he was told about the hedge.
Open as the first domino falls in a hall that a whole school spent three days filling.Reader must learn: whether it was meant to fall now, and whose sleeve touched it.
Open on a kite dropping out of the sky toward the only tree in the park.Reader must learn: who built it, how many tries it took, and who is watching from the bench.
Open with a cat in mid-leap between a bookshelf and a curtain rail that will not hold.Reader must learn: what is on top of the shelf, and who left the window open.
Open with a tray of twelve full glasses already tipping off a waiter's hand.Reader must learn: who he was looking at when it tipped, and why tonight of all nights.
Open with an apple cart already rolling backward down a market street, apples jumping out.Reader must learn: who let the brake off, and what the seller was arguing about.
Start as a suitcase bursts open halfway down an escalator.Reader must learn: where its owner is going, and which thing she grabs first.
Start in the middle of a save: the goalkeeper is already in the air, diving the wrong way.Reader must learn: what he had been told about the kicker, and why he believed it.
Start with a full paint can tipping off the top of a ladder above a brand-new carpet.Reader must learn: whose carpet it is, and what was said about dust sheets an hour ago.
Start with a trapeze flyer between two bars, on the night her brother is the catcher for the first time.Reader must learn: who the usual catcher is, and why he is in the audience.
Mid-celebration 15
Begin as a grandmother blows out ninety candles and the smoke alarm answers.Reader must learn: who insisted on all ninety, and what she wished for.
Begin as a retirement cake is cut in the break room while the retiree quietly clears her own desk.Reader must learn: what she is taking, what she is leaving, and for whom.
Begin as a spelling bee winner takes the trophy and looks at the runner-up, not the cameras.Reader must learn: what the last word was, and what the two of them know about it.
Begin as the last firework goes up and one family is already packing the car.Reader must learn: why they are leaving early, and which of them wanted to stay.
Begin halfway through a best man's toast, as he sees he has brought the wrong cards.Reader must learn: what is on the cards he did bring, and what he says instead.
Open on a team dinner as the trophy is passed down the table and comes back without its lid.Reader must learn: who held it last, and why nobody wants to ask.
Open on the third hour of a village dance, as the band strikes up a tune nobody has asked for in twenty years.Reader must learn: who asked for it tonight, and who has stopped dancing.
Open with a ribbon half cut at the opening of a new bridge and the mayor's scissors stuck.Reader must learn: how long the town waited for the bridge, and who actually built it.
Open with a street parade at full noise and one tuba player marching against it, the wrong way.Reader must learn: what he saw at the corner, and who he is trying to reach.
Open with a whole room singing the birthday song to someone who has just walked out.Reader must learn: why he left, and which guest noticed first.
Start in the middle of a graduation cheer, with one cap that did not come down.Reader must learn: where the cap landed, and why its owner needs it back tonight.
Start in the middle of a New Year countdown, at four, with two people looking for each other across the room.Reader must learn: what was said at ten, and whether they make it by one.
Start with a housewarming in full swing and the hosts whispering in the hallway about the ceiling.Reader must learn: what the stain is, and which guest already knows.
Start with a team already carrying its coach on their shoulders, and the coach asking to be put down.Reader must learn: what the coach knows about the final score that the team does not.
Start with confetti still in the air and the wrong team's name on the banner.Reader must learn: who ordered the banner, and how the real winners take it.
Mid-journey 15
Begin as a moving truck crosses the state line and the youngest child asks to go back for something.Reader must learn: what was left behind, and why it could not be packed.
Begin in the middle of an ocean crossing, on the morning the ship's cat does not come to breakfast.Reader must learn: where the cat sleeps, who feeds it, and what else on board has gone quiet.
Begin on a ferry as it pulls away, with a passenger on deck waving at someone who is not waving back.Reader must learn: who is on the dock, and what was said at the gate.
Begin on a night train as the conductor studies a ticket that was good for yesterday.Reader must learn: why she missed yesterday's train, and who is waiting at the other end.
Begin on the last mile of a long walk home, with one shoe in the walker's hand.Reader must learn: where the walk began, and why the bus was not an option.
Open halfway up a mountain path as the guide stops and admits this is not the path.Reader must learn: when he first suspected, and why nobody questioned him.
Open on a school bus forty minutes into a field trip, as it pulls up at the wrong museum.Reader must learn: which museum was planned, and why nobody tells the driver.
Open on day nine of a canoe trip, with one paddle between two people.Reader must learn: where the other paddle went, and who has not mentioned it since.
Open with a bicycle courier halfway across the city and the address smudged by rain.Reader must learn: what is in the package, and who paid double to have it there by six.
Open with a rowboat in fog in the middle of a lake, and a bell ringing from the wrong direction.Reader must learn: who is rowing, who is steering, and when they last agreed.
Start at the back of a camel caravan on its twelfth day, with the well in sight and nobody cheering.Reader must learn: what the lead rider saw at the well, and what the caravan carries.
Start in an airport at three in the morning, on the second day of a delay, as two strangers split the last sandwich.Reader must learn: where each is headed, and which of them is in no hurry to arrive.
Start with a family car on the shoulder of a desert road, hood up, three hours from anywhere.Reader must learn: whose idea the shortcut was, and what they are driving toward.
Start with a van full of wedding flowers stopped behind a flock of sheep on a one-lane road.Reader must learn: whose wedding it is, and what the driver promised on the phone.
Start with two hikers at a fork in the trail that they have already passed once today.Reader must learn: how they know it is the same fork, and which of them chose last time.
Mid-mistake 15
Begin as a man waves back, warmly, at someone who was waving to the person behind him.Reader must learn: who he thought it was, and why he wanted it to be them.
Begin as a student hands in a test and sees its back page for the first time.Reader must learn: what the back page asked, and what she says to the teacher.
Begin with a dog walker three blocks from the park, holding two leashes and only one dog.Reader must learn: when the second leash went slack, and where that dog likes to go.
Begin with a haircut half done, as the barber steps back and goes quiet.Reader must learn: what was asked for, and what tomorrow is.
Begin with a house painter one brushstroke into the wrong family's front door.Reader must learn: which house hired him, and who is watching from the window.
Open as a boy presses Send and sees which group the message has gone to.Reader must learn: what it said, who it was about, and who reads it first.
Open as a mover sets down the last box in an apartment whose owner has just come home.Reader must learn: whose boxes they are, and which door they were meant for.
Open as the class photo is taken and one boy realizes he is standing with the wrong class.Reader must learn: how he got there, and who makes room for him.
Open on a relay runner already sprinting, with no baton in her hand.Reader must learn: where the baton is, and who is shouting her name.
Open on a tour guide two rooms into the wrong tour, with thirty people following.Reader must learn: which group she was meant to lead, and who has noticed.
Start as a baker shakes the last of the jar into the bowl and reads the word salt on the lid.Reader must learn: who the cake is for, and how long until they arrive.
Start as a gardener pulls the tenth weed and learns what the first nine were.Reader must learn: whose seedlings they were, and how long they had been waited for.
Start as a waiter sets the anniversary dessert, candle lit, in front of the wrong table.Reader must learn: who ordered it, and what the wrong couple decides to do.
Start with a girl halfway through her solo, in a key the band is not playing.Reader must learn: who gave her the note, and who in the band changes to meet her.
Start with a magician's assistant opening the wrong box in front of a full house.Reader must learn: what was in it, and how the magician makes it part of the act.
How it works
These in medias res writing prompts each come with a second line: what the opening skips, which the reader must learn by the end of the page.
Read the full guide
How to start a story in medias res
Write the moment first and explain nothing yet. What the opening skips comes back afterward through dialogue, a flashback or a character describing what happened. The line under a prompt is that list: for the girl who lets go of the rope swing a second too early, who dared her and what she promised herself on the walk up.
The opposite: from the egg
The phrase comes from a Roman poem about writing poetry, composed around 13 BC. It sets in medias res against ab ovo, from the egg, and praises the epic poet who does not start at the very beginning but hurries to the action.
Hold the explanation for a full page. A reader who wants to know why keeps reading.
Name things as if the reader already knew them: the sled, the dare, the hedge.
Questions and answers
What does in medias res mean?
Into the middle of things. A story told this way starts in the chronological middle of its plot or conflict, not at the beginning, and supplies the earlier events afterward.
What is a good in medias res opening?
One where something is already going wrong or right and the reader arrives late. Start with a full paint can tipping off the top of a ladder, or with a whole room singing the birthday song to someone who has just walked out.
Is in medias res the same as a flashback?
No. In medias res is where the story begins. A flashback is one way the story goes back afterward to show what the opening skipped.
Does an in medias res opening have to be a fight or a chase?
No, and none of these sixty is one. A toast gone wrong, a wrong turn or a spilled tray is action enough: something is happening, and the reader does not yet know why.