Writing prompt structure has changed so much over the years...

I used to start every story with a character waking up, but now I jump straight into the middle of an argument or a weird situation. That shift happened about two years ago after I read a post on here that said "nobody cares about your character's alarm clock." Has anyone else felt like prompts favor in medias res openings way more now?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_tara7d ago

honestly, I get why people latched onto that alarm clock post but I think we're overthinking it a bit? like yeah sure nobody wants to read six pages of someone brushing their teeth but there's a middle ground here. sometimes a slow start sets a mood, you know? not every story needs to blast off like a rocket ship. I've read plenty of in medias res openings that felt cheap, like the writer was just trying too hard to be edgy or grab attention without earning it. maybe we just need to stop acting like there's one single right way to start a story.

evan_dixon677d ago

Yeah that post about alarm clocks is probably the one that made me rethink everything too. I used to be the kind of writer who would spend three paragraphs describing the sunlight coming through the blinds before anything happened, but now I see how that just kills the energy right from the start. Jumping straight into the middle of something weird or tense makes readers want to stick around and figure out what's going on instead of checking out before the story even gets started.