What is an inciting incident and why do you need one?
In this episode, learn what an inciting incident is, and two types that set your story in motion.
We’ll also talk about where to place it, and how to craft your inciting incident to hook your reader.
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Episode at a glance:
[01:57] An inciting incident is an event that happens near the beginning of your story that affects your protagonist and sets him or her on a new, unfamiliar path. One that your protagonist does not want to take.
You’ll learn two types of inciting incidents: causal and coincidental.
Tips for crafting your inciting incident
[08:38] Tip 1: Bring it in early.
Your inciting incident should take place in your first act once you’ve established the world of your story, and your protagonist’s place within that world.
If you save your inciting incident until too late in the story, you risk losing your reader.
[11:23] Tip 2. Disrupt your character’s status quo.
Your inciting incident disrupts your main character’s balance, and forces him or her into a new course of action, one that he or she is not remotely ready for.
[13:37 ] Tip 3. Frame your inciting incident in a scene.
There may be several scenes that lead up to your inciting incident, but the incident itself is a single life altering event. And it’s typically written as one scene, in one time in one place.
[14:44] Tip 4. Spark something sustainable.
It should be something that stimulates your protagonist’s choices and actions all the way to the end. And ignites his or her engagement with your story’s antagonist.
Books mentioned in this episode:
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Between A Rock And A Hard Place by Aron Ralston
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