As I've been teaching myself screenwriting, I'm often surprised by how few books on the subject matter lack glossaries in the back. Blake Snyder's Save the Cat has a glossary of terms in the back, but it's the only book I've come across so far that does. I've often found myself wishing there was a common glossary of screenwriting terms, and if there is one, I haven't found it yet, so I decided to make one of my own.
The first term I want to talk about is the inciting incident. This is an aspect of plot that sets the story in motion. Without it, there'd be no story. It's the event that shakes the main character of their normal world, something that says, "today's different from all the other days before. Today's the day your life has changed and you're going to have to do something about it."
I’m not sure who coined the term. Syd Field uses it, though it doesn’t seem to go back as far as Aristotle. Field’s book Screenplay was written in 1979 and has long been considered an important source in learning and understanding screenwriting and storytelling. In the book, Field explains that the inciting incident “sets the story in motion” and “draws the main character into the story line.” Field also writes that the inciting incident “serves two distinct functions.” In addition to setting the story in motion and creating the plot, Field writes that it also hooks the audience, grabs their attention, and makes them invest in the story. At its most basic, the hook raises question in the audience’s mind that they want answered. How is this going to play out? What’s going on here? Why did the character just do that?
I want to note that the hook and the inciting incident aren’t always the same. Some stories require more set up. They need to build their world a bit, or establish their characters. But remember that economy and efficiency are the hallmarks of good screenwriting, so the more aligned the hook and the inciting can be, the better.
In 2005, Blake Snyder wrote Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting that You’ll Ever Need. I don’t quite agree with that second statement. It’s not the last book you’ll need, but I do recommend it as the first book on screenwriting you should read (I wouldn’t start with Field, personally.) Snyder doesn’t use the term inciting incident, but instead refers to the catalyst. I’m going to keep calling it the inciting incident though. What a lot of people take from Snyder (famous for his Beat Sheet) is that the catalyst/ inciting incident has to happen on page 12. That’s not quite true, nor is it the most important advice he has to offer on the subject. Rather, what we should take from Snyder are his comments on how the inciting incident shakes up the character’s normal world. Snyder writes that “in the set-up you, the screenwriter, have told us what the world is like and now in the catalyst moment you know it all down. Boom!” It’s a “life-changing moment” and often “disguised as bad news.” It’s “not what it seems” because by the end of the story, it will have led the main character to victory (or failure, in a negative story arc).
These observations are important. The inciting incident will set the plot in motion, but in a way the main character might at first be resistant to. It can be presented as a problem or an opportunity, but it has to be uniquely designed to connect the other story elements and create a plot that is best situated to take the main character on the journey you want to take them on.
The next great story master is Robert McKee, famously featured in Charlie Kauffman’s Adaptation. McKee's book Story has a whole chapter on inciting incidents, and defines it as “the first major event of the telling,” and “the primary cause of all that follows.” McKee builds on Snyder’s ideas and says that it must “radically upset the balance of forces in the protagonist’s life” and adds that the “protagonist react to the inciting incident.” This second part isn’t absolutely required, but active protagonists are almost always better than passive ones, so I’d take McKee’s advice.
Other things we can take from McKee are that the inciting incident should “arouse not only a conscious desire, but an unconscious one as well.” What he’s talking about her are the character’s inner and outer journey. To find the right inciting incident that’s right for your story, McKee suggest writers ask themselves “what is the worst possible thing that could happen to my protagonist? How could that turn out to be the best possible thing that could happen to them?” I think this is great advice. Remember that conflict is the engine of great stories, and if your inciting incident can set both of those things up, you should be on your way to an exciting and eventful story.
There are many other well-regarded books on screenwriting, and they all have their own take on inciting incidents. I’m not going to go as in depth on the others, but I’ll point out a few other important bits of advice from popular sources.
Michael Hauge adds that the inciting incident must be a new event, something that’s never happened to the character before in his book Writing Screenplays that Sell.
John Truby, author of The Anatomy of Story, notes that the inciting incident (which he calls inciting event) must come from the outside (meaning it’s an external event that happens to your character, shakes up their normal world, like Snyder said), and that it causes the main character to do something, take action, make a decision, etc.
In Into the Woods, John Yorke mentions that the inciting incident should be a “crisis event” that must “awaken a desire” in the main character. He also notes that it’s a “subversion of expectation, a cliff hanger, an antithesis of what’s gone before.”
I could keep going, but hopefully you’re starting to notice the patterns. They’re all beginning to give the same advice, again and again, each with slight variations. I welcome you to add any important insights you’ve encountered in the many volumes on screenwriting out there, but for now, let’s reiterate what’s most important.
The inciting incident should:
be an external event that happens to the character (not something that happens as a result of their choices or actions)
be a new event that’s never happened to them before
set up the main plot of the story, leading to its climax
disrupt, shake up, upset, etc. their normal world and life
very likely be the worst possible thing that could happen to the protagonist
set up the character’s inner and outer journey
present an external conflict, but awaken an internal desire
create a lot of conflict (to keep the story interesting)
happen in the first 25% of the story (or on page 12 if you’re a Snyder devotee)
hook the audience, grab their attention, make them invest in the story
raise a question that the audience will want answered (and will know has been answered by the end of the story)
establish high stakes that explain character decisions, motivations, behavior, etc.
unify several important elements of the story (like setting, plot, character, theme)
Examples of inciting incidents include Ilsa showing up at Rick's café in Casablanca, Nemo getting snatched up by the diver in Finding Nemo, Harry's letter arriving from Hogwarts, Prim’s name being called in The Hunger Games. They’re important because they signal what the story is going to be about, what’s actually going to happen in terms of plot and why it’s important to the main character.
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