I have a fondness for In Medias Res storytelling.  Roughly translating to “In the midst of things,” In Medias Res is a storytelling technique of dropping the reader into the the story not at the beginning but while everything is going on.  It’s generally intended as a way to create tension, with the reader slowly fed the background that would normally have been given first over the course of the entire story.  This way, well timed reveals can create powerful moments.  That tension of not quite knowing what all is going on, in general, serves to keep the reader invested and pushing forward to learn more.  As a result, In Medias Res stories benefit heavily from having well developed settings.

I would of course be lying if I tried to say that my drop stories weren’t intended for the same effect, giving little details of Illithiust and of a greater story that hopefully get you coming back each week to learn more of the Fey, the Bard, and Illithiust.  That said, it can be a bit of a tough concept to draw the line on.  For example, Lord of the Rings comes on the tale end of much lore and history related to the creation of the Rings of Power and their role in Middle-Earth.  However, Lord of the Rings doesn’t feel like you’re jumping into the middle of things.  I consider the defining trait of In Medias Res to be whether or not we’re joining the characters in the midst of their journey and arc.  Frodo is very clearly at the start of his adventure when we meet him at the start of Fellowship of the Ring.

This can be compared with a novel like Chalice by Robin McKinley which joins our heroine after a catastrophe has forced her into a leading and vital role in her village that she is very much in the midst of struggling with.  Chalice balances its story between moving forward and reflecting back on how our heroine got to where she is.  Looking at other media, video games often tend to enjoy the use of In Medias Res.  Nintendo’s Breath of the Wild goes as far as putting Link in an amnesiac state so he is discovering the past, and his failure, at the same time as the player.  Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight does a great job of this as well, our voiceless protagonist arriving into a nearly dead world and the player spends almost the entire game trying to understand the relationship between character and setting, with the story ultimately pivoting on this point.

The difficulty with writing In Medias Res is having to have more of the story figured out from the start and getting less opportunities for characters to grow organically in the telling.  However, I think the trade off is often worth it, at least for the experience of the reader.  That feeling of being in the midst of the struggle with the character can create a strong bond and incentive to continue reading, especially when paired with the general mystery the technique creates.

We continue this week with Part 2 of End of War as Airka faces a difficult decision.  As always I hope you have a good week and thanks for sharing in my storytelling.

Go forth and do good things,

Sean