How many times have you been listening to someone going on and on, telling a story that seems to have no end? Inevitably, someone will say, "Come on, cut to the chase!" Cut to the chase means get to the point of the story, and that advice is something that you should remember when writing a story, as well. You owe it to your readers to orient them to the world of your story as soon as possible, pulling them into action and helping them understand what problem the main characters will face. After all, conflict creates drama, and drama is exciting . . . so get that excitement going right up front. This video demonstrates one way to get your readers both engaged and oriented.
In the Middle
Narrator:
One of your most important jobs as a writer is to hook your reader from the start and never let them go.
Everyone loves a good story, so captivate your audience right away with a complex character, a difficult problem, or a wild setting (or better yet, all three!).
One of the best ways to do this is to introduce the story’s conflict as soon as possible. You could even use a technique called in medias res, which is Latin for, “into the middle of things.”
This advanced narrative technique starts the story off with the crisis or climax, then rewinds to build the setting, introduce the characters, and explain how they got into the situation.
For example, instead of starting your story with your main character carefully planning a bank robbery, interviewing accomplices, scoping out the target for days, having second thoughts, then finally robbing the bank, you could start in the middle of the police car chase as he tries to get away.
Question
According to the advice offered by this video, where should your story's exposition appear?
Near the beginning but not before you introduce or at least hint at the story's main conflict.
