What's up, my friend?
Abbie here, and welcome back to WritersLife
Wednesdays, where we come together to help
you make your story matter and make your author
dreams come true.
Today, we are talking about the inciting incident,
what it is, what a lot of writers think it
is but it's actually not, and how to write
an amazing inciting incident that sucks readers
into your story and holds their attention
for the rest of the ride.
This is the second video in a series that
I'm doing breaking down the three-act story
structure.
We're breaking down each story beat in depth
plus debunking a bunch of common writing myths
about these plot points and also learning
from real story examples.
So if you missed last week's video, go watch
that.
It was all about writing the hook.
So, the hook is the very first story beat
in the three-act story structure.
It's what pulls a total stranger into your
story and makes them want to know what happens
next.
So obviously, you have to have a gripping
hook on page one, or else, your reader might
not ever make it to the inciting incident.
You get me?
Okay, so if you've already watched that video,
and you figured out your hook, and you're
ready for the next step, awesome.
That's what this video is all about today,
the inciting incident, the call to adventure,
whenever you want to call it, basically, when
your story really begins.
Why does your story matter?
Good question.
What if I told you that there's a science
behind every great story?
I don't just teach you how to write, I teach
you how to change the world with your story
and make your author dreams come true.
Okay, so the inciting incident is such a big
topic.
I actually want to make two videos out of
this story beat.
So, this video is going to be breaking down
the actual formula for a riveting inciting
incident.
And then next week's video, we're going to
be looking at some story examples and case
studying them like we do.
So, let's get started.
First, let's take a look at how most writers
describe the inciting incident.
So, I just Googled, what is an inciting incident?
And here's a few of the results that came
up, "Inciting incident, definition, interrupts
the peace and balance of the situation and
one or more of the characters comes into conflict
with an outside force, himself, or another
character.
Questions to ask yourself, what is the first
important thing that pulls you into the story?"
Important thing, important to who, me, the
character, the world, the government?
Who is it important to, and why is it important?
This is such a vague question.
It honestly hurts my brain.
"The inciting incident is how you get characters
to do something.
It's the doorway through which they can't
return, you know.
The story takes care of the rest."
What?
The story takes care of the rest.
I have never met a story that took care of
the rest for me.
And why do we need to just get the character
to do something?
Do what?
Why?
Why does it matter to them?
Why does it matter to me?
Why does it matter to anyone?
Okay, one more, "Inciting incident, when the
conflict is introduced.
The inciting incident sets the plot in motion.
Example, Justin injures himself."
Well, that sounds riveting.
And the inciting incident sets more than just
the plot in motion.
It's the beginning of your protagonist's roller
coaster of a character arc.
Okay, so we kind of need to pause for a minute
here and talk about character arcs, character
transformation, character development, all
that, because that's part of your story structure,
okay?
It's like half of everything.
You have what happens, but you also need why
it matters.
If you've been watching my channel for a while,
you know my favorite phrase.
Come on, say it with me, "Story is not about
what happens.
It's about how what happens affects and transforms
the characters."
That transformation is also known as your
character arcs.
Here's a line graph of what the positive character
arc looks like lined up with the three-act
story structure.
I'm going to show you a few things about this,
but first, I just want to clarify.
When I say positive character arc, I'm talking
about your protagonist's character arc, okay,
not your villain or your antihero or any kind
of morally gray character.
I'm talking about a positive role model character
that your readers will root for and emulate.
Now, when I say role model, you might be thinking
that I'm about to suggest you make your protagonist
a role model throughout the entire story,
just a cherub from beginning to end.
No.
Not only would that be stupidly unrealistic
and unrelatable, but it would defeat the whole
purpose of the character transformation that
we just talked about.
A character who is already enlightened can't
have an aha moment and therefore, can't deliver
a powerful message to your reader.
That's what a character arc is for.
So, let's go back to the line graph.
First off, positive and negative signifies
basically how okay or not okay your protagonist
is.
So if things are positive, she's fine.
If things are negative, she's screwed.
The middle of the road here is a conflicted
state, the place where your character is forced
to make uncomfortable decisions and grapple
with their misbelief.
So at the beginning of your story, your protagonist
is a conflicted person.
That's why I place their starting point here
on the line chart, just north of the conflicted
state.
They're probably a good person at heart, but
they have some serious issues and false beliefs
aka they're primed to make a fear based decision
when something goes sideways.
And something is definitely about to go sideways,
okay?
That's what you're setting up with your inciting
incident.
So just remember, when you look at this line
slowly declining throughout the timeline of
your story, it's not that your protagonist
is becoming a bad person necessarily.
It's just that as the story progresses, they're
getting themselves in deeper trouble.
Why?
Because they have a deeply rooted fear and
misbelief that's been hidden in their psyche
for a long time.
And until they have their aha moment, they're
making all of their decisions based on this
misbelief.
At the beginning of your story, your protagonist
hasn't left their comfort zone.
They've lived some life, but life has a way
of building up walls around you with fear.
And that's why we don't step outside of our
comfort zone because we are essentially afraid
of what lies outside our comfort zone.
So, what's going to push your protagonist
outside of their comfort zone and get the
ball rolling?
You guessed it, the inciting incident.
It's also worth mentioning that the inciting
incident shows up around the 12% to 15% mark
in your story.
Although, I like to always cut that number
in half and make the inciting incident happen
around like the 6% mark or as soon as possible
because we live in an age with microwaves
and elevators and the internet, okay?
We don't have long attention spans anymore.
So, here is the description of this story
beat taken from my three-act story structure
template, which by the way, you can grab for
free.
There's a link in the description box below.
"Inciting incident, protagonist is pushed
outside comfort zone.
This is the event that really sets your story
in motion.
Your inciting incident doesn't have to be
some big, epic, crazy call to adventure.
It just has to be something that pushes your
protagonist outside their comfort zone.
A conflict surfaces, something the protagonist
has to face head on.
It's really as simple as that.
Don't overcomplicate it as many writers do.
If you know why the inciting incident matters
to the protagonist and you let them react
to it as a normal person would, running for
cover because of their fear, congratulations,
you nailed it.
Prompt, ask yourself, why does this inciting
incident matter to my protagonist?
How does it push her outside her comfort zone?"
And there's like a little mini story beat
right after the inciting incident called the
build-up, and it's kind of part of the inciting
incident, so I'm going to read that one too.
"The build-up, facing the consequences.
Protagonist is going to have to face this
thing head on.
The reader can now see what the protagonist's
internal struggle really is and how this whole
situation is going to be especially tricky
for her to navigate.
Prompt, ask yourself, what internal conflict
is going to arise for my protagonist in wake
of the inciting incident?"
Right away, do you see how this is different,
even just using the term comfort zone instead
of the door?
A character being pushed through a door or
point of no return is virtually meaningless
because we don't know what the door means
to them.
It's just a door.
It's just a thing happening.
But a character being pushed outside their
comfort zone, that has some meaning, that
has some significance because there's context.
That involves fear and the possibility of
pain, two things that all humans instinctively
try to avoid.
So, our brains just love to pick up a book
and watch someone else experience fear and
pain, not just because we can go on an adventure
without ever leaving our couch, but also to
help us learn from this character's experience
and avoid possible threats in our real world.
This is why story originated.
Would you be surprised if I told you that
story was not invented as an entertainment
device?
It wasn't.
I'm serious.
It was invented to have meaning, a specific
meaning that matters to us because of the
lesson or the message that it teaches.
Back in the day, all story was nonfiction,
an account of real true events handed down
from generation to generation, designed to
help us navigate this world we live in and
avoid as much pain and danger as possible.
Our brains are built to avoid pain, so when
we're faced with a choice of pain versus pain,
we're always going to choose the less painful
option.
We're going to dig into this more when we
talk about the first plot point, so that's
coming soon.
But I wanted to bring it up in this video
because it's also important to remember when
you're writing the inciting incident.
I like to call this the impossible choice.
If the hook was the setup for the inciting
incident, the inciting incident is the setup
for the impossible choice, which is the setup
for the first plot point.
The impossible choice is how your brain reacts
to leaving the comfort zone.
Basically, your protagonist's brain is screaming,
"I just got shoved outside my comfort zone.
I'm scared.
I can either continue into unknown territory
and maybe get everything I ever wanted, or
I can retreat back into the shadows and experience
the pain of not getting the thing I want."
That's the impossible choice.
And it has to be a choice because otherwise,
your protagonist is just a punching bag for
the plot, and the plot is just beating them
up however it wants to.
And then in that case, there's literally no
intrigue for the reader because there's no
agonizing decision that has to be made by
the protagonist.
The choice is what creates intrigue.
If there's no choice, then there's no unanswered
question.
We know what's going to happen next, so why
do we need to read on?
We don't.
Curiosity is something that we all want our
readers to feel, right?
Well, curiosity comes from unanswered questions.
What is click bait?
Unanswered questions, unfinished sentences.
What happens next will bring you to tears,
but you don't know what happens next.
And you don't know if it'll bring you to tears,
and that's why you click on it.
The human brain gets high on watching other
people make decisions.
Just think of all the game shows that force
participants to make choices.
Even real estate shows use this fundamental
rule of psychology.
Curiosity triggers the pleasure and reward
systems in our brain.
Neurons that fire together wire together,
which means your brain is going through this
cycle of question, curiosity, answer, reward,
dopamine, question, curiosity, rinse, repeat,
triggering the pleasure centers in their brain
until their associative memory kicks in and
tells them, "You're enjoying this book a lot.
You should keep reading this book.
You should stay up all night and read this
book."
Yes, the inciting incident can smack your
protagonist around a bit, but they need to
be an opponent, not a punching bag.
They need to have the ability to make this
choice, okay?
The plot can't just decide the choice for
them.
That's what I mean when I say that your characters
have to be the agents of change.
They can't just spend the whole story absorbing
what happens to them.
Check out my video on character driven stories
versus plot driven stories for a better explanation
on that.
Okay, so let's recap what we learned about
the inciting incident today.
The inciting incident isn't just the first
big thing that happens.
Rather, it's the external event that pushes
your protagonist outside their comfort zone.
Knowing the protagonist and understanding
her comfort zone is the only thing that makes
us see the importance of the inciting incident.
Because you've already introduced us to the
protagonist's internal conflict in the hook,
the reader can now see how this whole situation
is going to be especially painful for her
to navigate.
The impossible choice is what piques our curiosity
and keeps us reading.
If you don't give your protagonist a choice
to make and show us why this choice is so
important to them, your protagonist becomes
a punching bag for the plot, and your story
becomes predictable.
Remember, your protagonist's misbelief has
been quietly growing stronger for a long time
now, which means when something pushes her
outside her comfort zone, she's primed to
make a decision based on that misbelief.
Ask yourself, why does this inciting incident
matter to my protagonist?
How does it push her outside her comfort zone?
What internal conflict is going to arise from
my protagonist in wake of the inciting incident?
What is the impossible choice?
Your protagonist must be faced with options,
stay inside their comfort zone and risk never
getting what they desire or venture into the
unknown and accomplish their goal while still
avoiding their fear.
So boom, that's it for this story beat.
Stick around because next week, we're going
to be doing a case study on the inciting incident.
I'm going to show you examples of what the
inciting incident looks like in real stories,
a good example and a bad example.
Plus, we're also going to look at a story
where seemingly nothing is happening, and
there's no real adventure to be called to,
and what the inciting incident looks like
then.
It's going to be a fun video, and if you're
from the future, the link will be right here.
Make sure you grab the three-act story structure
template.
It is linked in the description box below.
You can download it for free, and it also
includes all of the prompts and questions
to ask yourself about your story.
Smash that like button if you liked this video
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The Patreon community is not only the best
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So, go to patreon.com/AbbieEmmons and check
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that I have over there for you.
Until next week, my friend, rock on.
Can you see that clock?
You're going to be like, "Wow, Abbie, it takes
you a long time to make a video."
I'm losing my voice already.
I don't understand.
And I also don't understand why there's this
weird freaking sun beam on my face.
What is that from, my phone?
Rock on.
I don't know.
I'm laughing.
