PLOT POINT 2:
Inciting Incident Introduction
The Inciting Incident of your story is important for a few reasons:
Click on the Reasons to learn what they are.
Reason One
It sets the story in motion. This is the very first moment that draws your protagonist into the main conflict of the story.
Reason Two
It rocks the reader. This moment should pull your reader in, as well as your protagonist.
On the Examples page, you’ll see the Inciting Incident in action. This is the best way to solidify your understanding. And, of course, you can look for it in your own favorite stories!
This is the Plot Point where you’ll start noting differences in the way storytellers choose to structure their stories. Some of the characters we follow fit very snugly into the mold of the Inciting Incident laid out in the following pages. But some follow their own rules.
Howl’s Moving Castle in particular does not have a tight and tidy story structure. (But it’s still my very favorite book.) Storytelling is a science, but it’s also intuitive. The point of this course (which I’ll continue to remind you) is to get you familiar with stories and the art and science of storytelling.
Note: If you're following the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet, the Inciting Incident is your Catalyst.
But it’s also to help you understand what resonates with YOU.
This is what will make you a great storyteller - learning to understand why you love a particular story and how you can bring those elements that resonate with you into your own work.
So what does that look like in action?
Keep going to learn about the 4 important elements that must be present in the Inciting Incident and to see our fictional heroes face their first challenge.
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