Inciting Incidents | Writing Tips 

"head on".....I see what you did there! :D :P

Hail Shaelin!

Star Wars: A new hope did too if I remember correctly (it’s been awhile since I watched it)

I'd argue the inciting incident in ASOIAF isn't the fact that winter is coming, it's Ned Stark being appointed the hand of the king. That's what causes immediate action/change/repercussion, whereas winter is more in the background. Maybe by using that example, that helps? The examples you're using are like forecasts, but inciting incidents are events that start the story, not just large things looming in the background.

@@ShaelinWrites yes I also though about that. In fact I'd say there are different inciting incidents in each plots in the book. Daeneris' inciting incident would be a different one. Her being sold to Karl Drogo could be an inciting incident I suppose.

Omg I wish I could remember the name of this book, but it was a YA dystopian/ urban fantasy that I read in high school. The MC was on a quest to bring down some gang boss, but it isn't until halfway through the book that we learn the reason: he kidnapped her brother and is rumored to still have him. The kidnapping of her brother, told in a flashback, was technically the insighting incident, the thing that set the MC out on her journey. So flashback insighting incidents can work depending on the book. Btw if I remember correctly he had brainwashed her brother but she saved him.

I don’t know if this helps, but have you seen Shaelin’s video on flashbacks? Basically, if your inciting incident is in the past, or your climax is in the past (not in the fictive present), then you should reconsider what story you actually want to tell. If your character is in the hospital though, and thinking about the accident that happened a few days ago as the inciting incident, then I’d personally recommend restructuring that and moving the accident scene to the first scene and doing it all chronologically. But what do I know 😂

@@justluc8556 it is the first scene of my book, but it happens in the past. Most of the book after is in the present except for a couple of flashback scenes. I essentially figured out that I have two different story lines, but the one in the past isn't 1) long (it ends about the middle of the book) 2) overbearing 3) controlling the story.

My character has PTSD but hasn't been showing symptoms until 6 years after the traumatic event so he refuses to accept that he's traumatized at all. I'm debating on whether I should make his first PTSD dream the inciting incident. This has been bothering me because not having a catalyst is really getting in the way of plotting 😭

i am psychic

Glad it helped!

Good luck! Hope it turns out good!

@@lolasart3408 thanks! It actually went surprisingly well and it's pretty raw emotion so I was honestly just surprised by my own writing tbh. Like, wait did I write this??? I didn't even know I could. But it went really really well. Now only if there was a way I would start putting details in scenes, I'd be on my way to a full draft!

@@James.Stark.Ben.Edition Awesome! I'm still trying to adapt my original plot to write able one. (Sorry for bad english, it's not my first language)

@@lolasart3408 eh, it's fine. English isn't my first language either haha. And good luck to you too!

@@James.Stark.Ben.Edition thanks!

I would like to read that book!

Me too! ​@@markwalker5243

Shaelin said in the video that more “general” inciting incidents can happen very early on (take the cockroach example she mentioned), whereas inciting incidents where you need some context on the protagonist so that you can understand how the inciting incident changes his life, need to happen later. So it depends on how specific your inciting incident is.

@@alienswillcomeAWC oh! Thanks!

My inciting incident happens at the end of the first chapter.

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Charles Smith Yes! Hell, even the movie Hereditary started its inciting incident head on the first scene.

I think that if you have multiple main characters who all have the same inciting incident, then it makes sense that yours would be later.

Sounds okey to me. If where your inciting incident is placed makes sense in your WIP, then that is where it goes. Plus edits will trim a lot of words, so it does not sound like a problem to me. The best answer you will get will be from your beta readers, if they feel it works, then it works.

Thanks, guys! They all basically have the same inciting incident because of something that happens to one character who then drags everyone else in with him. So, yeah, it took some time to get the events set up. And it needs to be pretty tightly wound to, since it's a whodunit murder mystery. So I'm just worried the inciting incident might be a little too late. While I'm not sure editing would help trim the word count, to be honest. My scenes are pretty barebones already. I'm skimpy with descriptions for draft 1 so it's only going to be even later. But thanks for the help! I appreciate it! I'm going to go work on my wip now haha. Thanks.

It's pretty late, but there are things you could do to combat this! Make sure everything that comes before is really interesting, and that there is already a feeling of change in the characters lives. Give the characters existing goals to work towards so your story has direction, and conflict so there's purpose and tension. This way even if your inciting incident is very late, it will still feel like there is a story and a purpose for the reader to keep reading.

@@ShaelinWrites thanks! My characters all have a beginning goal to work towards before the actual incident happens so I'm 80% sure it's pretty interesting. Everyone who's read it so far has been pretty positive so that's good, I think. There's a ton of conflict and two fight scenes between two of the main characters in chapter 1 and 2 so that is kinda the main thing everyone focuses on until the inciting incident happens. Hopefully it's enough to keep everyone's attention. Thanks for the advice!!

Omg this was so funny to stumble into. Hello fellow writer and Sims player.

@@abbiepancakeeater52 hii! omg

Sul sul

Are you sure, that the event you are calling the inciting incident isn’t really the point of no return? Sometimes they can be the same, but is there a posibility that something actually happens earlier setting the story in motion? Think about it this way: if you actually don’t have an inciting incident until chapter 5, that means you have 4 chapters SOLELY describing your main character’s current life.

I know I'm one year too late with this but here's my personal advice in case you or someone on this world ever needs it: First of all, great story idea! That will make for a killer first page. But still, you need an inciting incident even to that genius idea. Now think about what the story is about. The MC's memories are gone. Great, what then? Maybe that first twist in the story is that the MC can suddenly remember something vital. Or someone claims they know her while others are warning her about that stranger. It could be anything! As long as it starts this adventure, this STORY that you're writing about. I don't know the plot you already had in mind, so I wouldn't know what fits your taste. My point is: there is something that should happen (an inciting incident) which triggers a figurative snowball to start rolling down a mountain. And that snowball will become thicker the more it rolls and sweeps snow off the mountain as it passes-THAT is your plot developing layers. But without something triggering that ball, there is no story. So you see, ou've got a good premise, that's for sure. What now though? A girl lost her memory, sure. But ask yourself what is going to happen to your MC AFTER that. Her memory being gone isn't where her life ends (since clearly that's what forms this character in the past before the story ever begins). In fact, I see the memory loss as a goal. The MC will want to do something about it after she wakes up. Now something in her new adventure (not knowing her life) is going to trigger her to do that, to start acting. Your inciting incident may be a smaller thing than you would think, I'd say. A talk between her and another character maybe. Or simply the MC looking out into the world and setting up her mind to find out about something that she saw, or that little hazy thing that she CAN remember. That would be an inciting incident (at least in my opinion). Hope this helped anyone on earth!

Ok, I just finished the video and you just answered that question XD

I don't have one yet, but I'll add it to my list!