Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

by Jack R. Hart

Homer began his epics in the middle of the action and then flashed backward in time to clue listeners into the essential backstory. He began, in Horace’s terms, in medias res, or “in the middle of things.” Beginning at the beginning, according to Horace, was to start ab ovo (“from the egg”) or ab initio (“from the beginning”).