Choices can be placed into one of two categories: black and white ones and gray ones. Black and white ones aren’t necessarily easy to make even if the right choice is obvious; The Little Mermaid is an example. Ariel knows what is right, but she chooses what is wrong. She disobeys her father and finds herself facing the consequences. Even though everything comes aright in the end, she doesn’t know that it will in the midst of the disobedience and resulting pain. She only knows that she is losing her prince, her father, her friends, and very possibly herself.
Robert Frost
The Curiosity Gap
One reason I recommend writers start en media res, that is, “in the middle of things,” is that it creates a curiosity gap. Readers want to know what led to the middle in which they find themselves. They want to know what happens next. It may be a ploy to capture attention, but it’s one that works without fail. I know; I’m the person caught in the aisle at Half Price Books reading the first chapter in a book because it piqued my curiosity.