Where Does a Story Begin? Anatomy of the Inciting Incident

The Inciting Incident is a very specific kind of event that happens just once in a story

Where and when does a story start? It may seem quite easy to say.

As readers, we may think that a story starts with the first words of a novel or a short story. We might even be right. But as writers, we need a keener eye because the beginning of the narration might not coincide with the starting of the story. Very often, it doesn’t.

A novel or a short story are sections of longer stories we’ll never know in their entirety. There will always be a before and an after. The story we read is never everything there is to know. Very rarely we know the Protagonist’s life from when they’re born to when they died. And we don’t need to know. The story will only tell a section of that life, the most meaningful one, whether short or long.

The story is a wave in among placid waters. Before the story, there’s a state of balance, and after the story, there’s a state of balance. But the story in itself is a totally unbalanced situation, and finding a new balance is the point of it all.

The beginning of the story, then, is the moment in which the initial balance is shattered. The end of the story is when a new balance is achieved. In between these two points stretches the arc of the story.

But the shattering of the initial balance might not be the opening of the story. In fact, very often, it isn’t. There are indeed stories that start in media res, just in the middle of the action. But there are also many stories — maybe even the majority — that need a short or a long set up, an introduction to the situation and the characters. Sometimes this may take a few chapters. It may indeed take the entire Act I of the story.

In this last case, telling the point where the story actually starts become more tricky. The introduction will offer exposition, but it will also offer many episodes, many events. How do we tell which one is the one that sets the story off?

It is essential for us writers to know because that’s where the story arc starts, on which the correct structure of the story is built.

In among all the events in Act I there will be one peculiar event, just one, that will shatter the status quo. An event that will trigger a different course of action.

That even is called Inciting Incident.

How to tell which event is the Inciting Incident

Some stories open with the Inciting Incident. These are the stories which start in media res, in the middle of things, when the initial balance is being shattered or has just been shuttered, and the story takes off.

But many stories need a set up first. They need to establish a normal situation and give the reader a sense and the magnitude of the problem.

Setting up the story might call for exposition, but usually, it also calls for a series of events to happen (events help to show, rather than telling).

How do we tell the Inciting Incident from all other incidents?

The Inciting Incident has a very specific set of characteristics that set it quite apart from all other events.

The main one is that it upsets the status quo in an irreversible way. It’s the extraneous event that sometimes insinuates itself, some other times breaks into the life of the Protagonist and changes something in a way the Protagonist cannot ignore.

Basically, it is a problem that, at first glance, looks unsolvable.

When I speak of balance, I mean to say that at the beginning of the story, it might look like there is not really a problem, or the problem is under control. But looking more deeply, there will always be something precarious hiding somewhere. If the situation really were balanced and serene, the Inciting Incident would never occur.

No, even at the beginning of the story, there will be something. Maybe the Protagonists has a desire they don’t express. Or a fear they’re suppressing. Perhaps they ignore that something is wrong in their life, or that someone is plotting against them. The Protagonist may or may not be aware of ‘what’s wrong’ in their life, but something precarious will be there.

The Inciting Incident regards that precariousness and when it occurs, ‘what’s wrong’ in the Protagonist’s life comes to the fore, and the Protagonist won’t be able to ignore it. They cannot keep on living their life in the way they have always done.

All other events in the setting up will give us information about the world the story takes place or the characters involved in it. The Inciting Incident instead creates that ‘unsolvable’ problem which the Protagonist cannot ignore. The problem that somehow must be solved.

Connotations of the Inciting Incident

There are a few things to keep in mind when we create our Inciting Incident.

1. It must be upsetting.

When the Inciting Incident happens, the Protagonist’s world must change forever. It doesn’t need to be dramatic. It doesn’t need to be a bomb going off. Sometimes the Inciting Incident is an event that initiates a change that will occur slowly, even unobtrusively in the Protagonist’s life. But in both cases, the end result is the emergence of that ‘unsolvable’ problem.

Whether it happens in a second, or little by little, the Inciting Incident shuffles the cards inextricably. Certainties, truths, routines — everything is upturned in a destructive way. When the change is complete, the Protagonist’s new life is incompatible with the old one. The collision of the two creates the conflict, a conflict the Protagonist cannot live with. They need to go out and find a solution to the problem, find a way to make the new life acceptable. Find a new balance.

2. It must be meaningful.

So, the event setting the story off is a problem affecting the Protagonist directly. It is a big problem, seemingly unsolvable. But that’s not enough.

The Inciting Incident needs to take something fundamental away from the Protagonist. It may threaten their inner piece, or their comfortable life. It may threaten a hope for the future. Whatever it is, it’s something vital to the Protagonist. It jeopardises their wellbeing, which is why they can’t ignore it. They may try to, but eventually, they’ll need to face it.

Solving the problem the Inciting Incident arises is the point of the story. The story hinges on the solution of that seemingly unsolvable but vital problem. In this way, the Inciting Incident relates to the Theme of the story.

3. It must be pertinent.

To be meaningful, the Inciting Incident also needs to be pertinent. This means it needs to arise from the setting up. It is not enough that the problem is big and seemingly unsolvable. It also must relate to the desires or fears of the Protagonist as they are presented in the setting up of the story.

For example, if in the setup, the Protagonist reveals a fear to be alone, the Inciting Incident will cause the Protagonist to end up alone. If in the setup, the Protagonist desires to enter an exclusive school, the Inciting Incident will prevent that to happen.

4. It must be tough.

The Protagonist’s destiny and the unfolding and themes of the story, all rest on the Inciting Incident. This event needs to be strong.

It will create a problem the Protagonist needs to solve, but the solution must not be readily available. This is one of the trickiest aspects regarding the Inciting Incident. Creating a problem that is solvable, but at first looks unsolvable. A problem that can logically be solved, but by a different person than the Protagonist — which is why the Protagonist needs to undergo a changed throughout the story.

In the end, the Protagonist will be a different person than they were at the beginning, that’s how they will solve the problem. Or they will still be the same person, and won’t be able to solve the problem. Some story end like that.

The nature of the Inciting Incident and the way the Protagonist reacts to it when it happens is one of the most crucial moments in any story.

How the Antagonist Relates to the Inciting Incident

Most commonly, the Inciting Incident is caused by the Antagonist.

When we set up situations, fears and desires, the surest way to cause an Inciting Incident is to put the Antagonist in the Protagonist’s way. Achieving that desire, or avoiding that fear becomes impossible when the Antagonist’s action starts. To regain the lost balance, the Protagonist will need to find a new way, something unfathomable at the beginning of the story. Something that will neutralise the Antagonist’s action.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that when the Antagonist appears, the Inciting Incident occurs right away. Sometimes the Antagonist is — like other elements — part of the setting up and only when they finally act the Inciting Incident occurs, and the story takes off.

When does the Inciting Incident happen

Because the Inciting Incident kickstarts the story, it always occurs in Act I.

At the beginning of the Act and opening of the story. In media res, as they say. This kind of stories doesn’t have a setup. They start at the moment, or shortly after the Inciting Incident occurs, and postpones all information in the unfolding of the story.

At the end of the Act, in its climax. This kind of stories open with a setup where the reader is eased into the world of the story and presented with all the characters. This allows the reader to get a feeling of the initial balance and understand the magnitude of the problem the Protagonist faces.

Of course, the sooner the Inciting Incident happens, the more breath the story has to unfold.

This is why it is generally recommended to open the story as close as possible to the Inciting Incident. Therefore, as authors, we need to be able to recognise that incident and make the most out of it.

3- Act Story Structure Workbook

If you’re starting your novel and would like a bit of guidance, you can check out my workbook 3-Act Story Structure. It is designed to organise a solid stroty structure, so that you’ll never feel lost once you start writing. Grab the workbook from my shop.

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Sarah Zama wrote her first story when she was nine. Fourteen years ago, when she started her job in a bookshop, she discovered books that address the structure of a story and she became addicted to them. Today, she’s a dieselpunk author who writes fantasy stories historically set in the 1920s. Her life-long interest in Tolkien has turned quite nerdy recently. She writes about all her passions on her blog https://theoldshelter.com/