Podcasts Arts Fiction Writing Made Easy The Inciting Incident: How to Get Your Story Into Motion

The Inciting Incident: How to Get Your Story Into Motion

Published: Oct. 6, 2020, 7 a.m.

In today's episode, we’re going to talk about crafting a great inciting incident for your story. I'm also going to show you how the global inciting incident looks different across the content genres. Here's a preview of what's included:

[01:45] The inciting incident is an event that occurs and upsets the balance of your protagonist’s life. Life can't continue on in the same way now.
[02:00] The inciting incident is also what sets your story in motion and gives rise to your protagonist’s overarching story goal. In this way, it gives rise to a specific question in your reader’s minds that they won’t find the answer to until the very end at your story’s climax.
[03:05] The inciting incident is also what puts the protagonist and the antagonist at odds with each other. The protagonist wants one thing, the antagonist wants another thing.
[03:45] The inciting incident of your global story should occur somewhere around the 12% mark or about halfway through your first act.
[05:10] The three types of inciting incidents: the causal inciting incident, the coincidental inciting incident, and the ambiguous inciting incident (plus examples).
[07:20] The inciting incident of your story is genre-specific. In other words, the inciting incident of your global story will most likely be determined by the genre you’re writing in.
[13:15] An example of the global inciting incident in The Hunger Games.
[14:00] An example of the global inciting incident in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
[15:35] Key points and episode recap.

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