The Inciting Event (Change is Afoot - Plotting Through Backstory #8)

Ah, here we are, the Inciting Event. Did I mention that the first act is my favorite? Some writers find the first act really tough—too much to juggle, too much to balance. That’s what I like to write, though—it’s far more comfortable for me to have too much I want to say than not enough.

Anyway. The Inciting Event. The moment at which the main character’s life will begin to change. Notice I say begin. It’s just the first step.

Now, this is looking forward a bit, but remember, we’re going to wind up breaking Act 1 into 4 beats: The Hook, The Inciting Event, The Key Event, and The First Plot Point.

Right now, we’re only concerned with the event that throws your character’s everyday life into a bit of chaos. Something is changing—something big. Something happens that will forever change your main character…but this big change is really just setting the stage for everything else that will follow.

Clear as mud? How about a few examples?

Let’s go back to An Officer and a Gentleman. The Inciting Event would be Zack (Richard Gere) heading off to join the Naval Officer Candidate School to become a pilot. Life will be forever changed by this decision.

How about another ‘80s movie? Why not Lethal Weapon? The moment of change or disruption is when Murtaugh gets Riggs (who is unstable and possibly suicidal) as his partner.

Rather use a classic? In Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, the Inciting Event occurs when Marley visits Scrooge. Marley is a ghost himself at this point, setting the stage for more supernatural events. And he tells Scrooge he is about to be visited by a string of Christmas spirits.

Don’t forget the plotting you’ve already done.

When we brainstormed the overall arc of the book, we looked at the protagonist’s backstory—the wound and the self-protective lie. And we brainstormed high-stakes events that would force that character to address this lie head-on.

You already know, then, what you want this book to be about. You know the big picture. And last week, in your Hook, you established what the main character’s everyday life looks like. Here, you are introducing the very first moment of disruption. This is the first domino to fall.

Don’t go too far.

This Inciting Event is big, but not a make-or-break moment. It’s not a point of no return. It’s simply the moment when something changes. In a mystery, the detective has just arrived at the crime scene. In a romance, it is not necessarily the meet cute. It is often the life change that precedes the two love interests meeting. Perhaps one of the characters moves to a new town. Or is having to go to a family member’s wedding. It’s the event that sets up the likelihood of the couple meeting.

See? You can’t go big. You just need to get the wheels of change in motion.

Now it’s your turn. Go ahead. Brainstorm that Inciting Event. Next week? We’ll look at the Key Event.

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