: Name of the technique where you show a tense scene in the beginning and then transitioning to a peaceful first chapter What do you call the writing technique that shows an incredibly tense

What do you call the writing technique that shows an incredibly tense scene at the beginning, and then transitioning to a more peaceful pace in the first chapter?

The only novels that I can remember that has this kind of intro is Dan Brown's Inferno and Robert Ludlum's Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Identity.

I'm not talking about the excerpt because it could be a different scene and not really taken from the story. (but please correct me if it is the excerpt)

It's like a teaser intro, something like that. Does that mini-chapter have a name?

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@Kevin153

The more classic way of describing this is called "in medias res," which often also implies the action scene is from the middle of the story, considered chronologically. But more generally, and in a modern context, this can be considered an action hook.

"Hooks" are a more recent way of conceptualizing things that rapidly and reliably draw the audience into a piece of art. In an environment of short attention spans and limitless choices, hooks have become ever more important and emphasized across a wide variety of disciplines (older works often began more gradually-- and when they had "hooks," they weren't generally called that).

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@Kevin153

This sounds like a special case of starting in medias res, or jumping into the story during an action scene. This is usually followed by more action before a pause to reflect on how the characters arrived at their current situation but in this case the deescalation occurs very quickly.

Depending on the proper chronological order of events this may also constitute a flashback structure if the calm scene actually precedes the action that started the story.

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: Name of the technique where you show a tense scene in the beginning and then transitioning to a peaceful first chapter What do you call the writing technique that shows an incredibly tense

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