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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35953
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35953
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

As everyone else notes, In Medias Res only means "in the middle of things."

It does not necessarily mean a climax, or action, or foreshadowing the ending. For example, if I were writing a Sherlock novel, I might begin with Sherlock closing a **previous** case to the one the novel is about. Jump in, show his conclusions astounding the police, the arrest being made.

The point of IMR is to engage the reader immediately, skip boring introductions and explanations about how a character became who he is, his relationships, etc.

In a way, IMR echoes reality in some ways; IRL we also meet most of our friends, lovers, bosses, politicians, heroes and villains in their fully formed adult state, process their personalities and beliefs without any back-story, and get along with that just fine. Nobody has to take our hand and tell us that this guy had a troubled childhood, crime was the only way he could survive, his father beat him bloody, blah blah blah.

Whether in a novel, teleplay or stage play, IMR not only saves time, it prevents boredom. It doesn't TELL us anything, it shows us characters in action revealing their personality (Intellect, morals, emotional expressivity), their situation, their talents, etc.

The scene in question can be a throwaway, it does its job if character is revealed. Of course, if it has some resonance to the plot and can be referred to later as a touchstone, then all the better, but that is not strictly necessary. I think I've seen IMR used this way in some Bond stories; Bond is wrapping up some previous assignment and gets the call he is needed for a new one. I've certainly seen some hard-boiled detective stories begin with an argument over billing or payment, or a romantic encounter, then a new client walks in to interrupt this. Whatever was interrupted is never mentioned again.

Nevertheless, often the opening scene can actually be critical to the plot: Then IMR is doing away with some of the boring backstory that led to this juncture. (or postponing it). The teens are drunk, driving fast down a back farm road, having a party, the driver is being sexually distracted by his girlfriend -- And they hit and kill somebody.

How this party got started, where they _were_ going and why, how they came to know each other, what all their names are, who knows? We reveal character (and sometimes relationships) by how they react to this incident. Who throws up? Who laughs at that? Who suggests hiding or burying the body?

Some of that backstory may come out, but we don't need it to appreciate this scene. The point is this drags the reader in for pages, and in those pages we can build characters, setting, and backstory that gets them fully immersed in the larger story, so when they finish this chapter, they need to know what happens next.

Could you have written the story to introduce Alice, then Bob, then Candice, then Dave... at the school dance, sneaking out in Dave's car because Dave's father is a rich lawyer, and do all that leading up to this scene?

Sure, but you risk bored readers. They don't want a bunch of facts, they want action and conflict. IMR gets around that. The fact that Dave's dad is lawyer is bound to be mentioned by **one of them** at the accident, standing over a dead body. But now that fact is revealed in dialogue instead of just being told; and Dave can create conflict by arguing: _"My dad is a tax attorney, that won't help us here."_

IMR is a very good writer's trick for engaging the reader fast by putting them in a scene that can reveal important elements of character, setting and plot. That scene may or may not be used for foreshadowing, it may or may not be plot critical; it may be devised solely as a good scene for showcasing important character & setting points, and then forgotten.

Original score: 6