Creative Writing Tip – the Inciting Incident
For the first few weeks of this year, a small group of us went through the material in the Write for a Reason Academy. We had a lot of fun, and learned so much from each other.
One of the things we spent quite a bit of time discussing, was the inciting incident. This is the moment you arrive at in your story, when something has to be done.
There may have been peace, but the peace has now been broken.
This major incident may have been arrived at step by step, or it may have happened suddenly. But now action has to be taken.
Your protagonist has to garner all their strength and actually do something/fight back/seize the day/whatever works with your plot.
Exciting, isn’t it!
Why Do We Need an Inciting Incident?
• It will add tension to your story
• It will add emotion to your story
• It will give your protagonist motivation to act
• It will signify the beginning of a change in his personality
• And the beginning of the fight/conflict
• It will grip your readers
Here are a couple of examples from well-known stories:
The invitation to the ball arrives from the palace; all unattached females are required to attend. Previous to this, Cinderella’s life has been pretty grim, but manageable. The arrival of the invitation is the inciting incident – this signifies the beginning of the real story.
The ring of power has been found. Previous to this, an uneasy peace reigned in Middle Earth. Now the ring has to be destroyed, and Frodo offers to do this. At this turning point, the true conflict begins.
Here is an example from The City Kid by Clive Lewis:
John Ouma doesn’t want anything to do with religion – he wants to live the fast life. Having got into money trouble, his boss asks him to do a favour, for which he will get a nice envelope of cash. At first John balks at the idea of being involved in corruption, but as he needs the money, he agrees, thinking it will just be this one time. Prior to this major incident, John’s life was, for the most part, going well. After this incident, things quickly spiral downwards, out of control. The demands get bigger and John ends up losing pretty much everything. (Spoiler alert: he finds Jesus! Why not buy copies for the teens in your church?)
In Deepest Darkness, by Denise Hayward, Abi lives her life full of fear. Making a friend on holiday, who shows her the full moon at night, begins a new part of the story, as Abi begins to see that light shines, even in the deepest darkness.
I trust thinking about these examples will help you with your own novel.
It is up to you how dramatic your inciting incident is – but do include one! It has to be believable, of course, but the more you can make it exciting, breathtaking, dangerous or awesome, the more it will add something special to your story, and grip your readers.
Why not look out for the inciting incident in the next movie you watch, or book you read? Let me know what it is – I’d love to hear from you!
Every blessing,
Janet
P.S. If you’d like to get feedback on your novel with other writers, and ask me questions about writing, why not join our membership group? We meet every Monday, and we’d love you to join us!