Bang! Choosing an Inciting Incident
Struggling to find the right way to begin your story? Here are 14 tips.
—Annie Mydla, Managing Editor
Dear Annie,
I'm having trouble picking my inciting incident. I don't want to pick one that's too early or not substantial enough. What should I do?
Signed, Plotless in Pittsburgh
Dear Plotless,
Choosing an inciting incident can feel overwhelming, I know. So many possibilities. And, since it happens at the beginning of the book, it can seem like there's a lot at stake. But when you get right down to it, the idea of the inciting incident itself is not that complicated.
It's the moment when things shift from "normal"...to "not normal".
For example, "I was going about my day as a letter carrier when a strange red car pulled up to the curb." The red car pulling up is the moment when things go from normal to not normal.
"Sarah ate ice cream at Nice Ice every Friday. But this time, the front door was locked." The normal pattern of Friday treats is interrupted when the ice cream parlor is unexpectedly closed.
The shift from normal to not normal appears in every market-friendly book you've ever read. (Know of an exception? Please email me the title. I'd love to read the book.)
In your quest for the best way to start your book, consider these two questions:
1. What is the normal pattern of life before my story starts?
2. What interferes with that pattern?
The answer to question two will be your inciting incident. Of course, there are other angles to consider. An inciting incident isn't necessarily just something that "happens". It's part of a pattern of escalating tension and release that culminates with the climax and concludes with the resolution. It intersects with other developmental concerns like narrative emphasis, scope, genre expression, target audience, style, motif/symbol/metaphor, and more.
All of these factors can be leveraged to help you choose the perfect inciting incident for your book.
Inciting incident tip #1: Don't confuse it with exposition or rising action
Some authors confuse the inciting incident with other plot stages that happen at the beginning of a book, like exposition and rising action. That can make it harder to choose an inciting incident because the author has lost track of its purpose: signaling the shift from "normal" to "not normal".
Choosing the right inciting incident gets easier when you know the different functions of the exposition, inciting incident, and rising action:
Exposition = What was "normal" before the inciting incident
Inciting incident = The moment things become "not normal"
Rising action = What happens after things become "not normal"
What might it look like when the three get confused? One example might be when a book starts in media res: in the middle of something that's already going on, like a conversation or a chase scene. Some authors automatically assume that whatever comes first is the exposition, followed by the inciting incident, followed by the rising action.
In reality, though, a book can start with the inciting incident or even part of the rising action, then circle back to the exposition later. (Think about when characters say things like, "You might be wondering how I got here...").
The inciting incident and exposition don't have to take place "on screen", as it were, in every story. Sometimes they happen before the book starts and the reader learns about them later. They also don't have to be revealed at the beginning. Harlan Coben and other mystery writers often hold back from revealing the inciting incident until later in the book, starting with a false inciting incident and spending the rest of the book peeling back the layers of what really happened. The true inciting incident might even be revealed as part of the climax.
Starting your book in medias res or in your rising action? It might help to review what you've already written and ask: "Does this scene take place when things are normal, becoming not normal, or already not normal?"
If option two is the case, you might already have your inciting incident. If option three, then you can ask: "What happened to make things not normal?" That could be your inciting incident.
Tip #2: There doesn't have to be just one
"Inciting incident is such a simplistic idea. My story is more complex."
Some authors get turned off by the idea of the inciting incident because they assume that it's formulaic and boring. Not so. Just as life changes our plans in a variety of unpredictable ways, so can a book have multiple inciting incidents working together to change the landscape of a character's life.
The essential function of the inciting incident is to clearly demonstrate the shift from "normal" to "not normal". The particulars are totally up to you.
Maybe the inciting incident is actually a sequence of smaller events happening to one character in succession.
Maybe it's a collection of events happening to an ensemble cast that launches them on their related plot lines that intersect at the climax.
Maybe it's a single event that the reader gets multiple versions of from different characters' points of view.
Any of these approaches are reasonable as long as your choice demonstrates going from "normal" to "not normal".
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "Do I feel constrained or turned off by the idea of only one inciting incident? Might I really be looking for more than one? Do I already know what one or more of them are? How can they work together to create an overall sense of life in the story moving from the normal to the not normal?"
Tip #3: Have a specific type of book in mind, or at least be open to commitment
It's hard to pick an inciting incident when your book hasn't committed to anything: "My book is for everyone." "My book is every genre." "My book is about life: all its lessons and wonder."
I understand the impulse to keep things open, but those mindsets don't offer any clues for choosing anything, including your inciting incident.
Committing to specificity on a wider scale makes choosing an inciting incident easier.
For example, instead of leaving genre totally open, tighten the bounds: "My book is a sci-fi/fantasy war novel, not a domestic drama. I won't include family content beyond what supports the war narrative." Where before you had to choose between the war narrative and family plot for your inciting incident, it's now clear that the inciting incident will support the larger war story.
Instead of a universal target audience, narrow it down: "My target audience is queer individuals over 35 who enjoy Booker Prize shortlisters and The New Yorker. I'm going to avoid material that isn't likely to interest that audience." Previously, you had every topic in the world to choose from. Now you only need to choose among the things your target audience would enjoy.
Rather than trying to make your book give the reader every possible experience, focus on creating a more limited range of experiences really well: "My book is plot-driven and should raise the reader's pulse. I will edit out material that doesn't contribute to the plot or raising their pulse."
The more factors you can narrow down, the better. Get specific about genre, target audience, and reader experience...and scope, narrative emphasis, style, and more! Your inciting incident is waiting for you at their intersection.
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask:
"Am I open to committing to writing a specific type of book, for a specific audience, about specific things, that talks about certain things but not others? If not, do I need to do some inner work to become more comfortable with the literary/craft/commercial sides of writing as opposed to the personal/social/self-expression sides I'm already comfortable with?"
"If I am already open to committing to getting specific with my book's content and goals, then what elements am I already pretty set on? Certain plot points, characters, ideas, genre identity, other elements? How could I use these specifics to brainstorm an inciting incident?"
Tip #4: Choose one that reinforces your premise
Please don't roll your eyes when I tell you:
Your inciting incident should involve what the book is about.
No, not all authors do this automatically. I often find myself in conversations like the following:
Author: "My book is about Kenny Asheville, a daredevil motorcyclist who must set a world record for jumping the most buses end to end if he wants to win enough money to keep his father's farm from getting foreclosed on."
Me: "Sounds good, but then why is your inciting incident about Kenny's childhood flirtation with sweet Jessica Jane down the road as he walks her home from their kindergarten, only to lose her respect when he says he wants to be a pharmacist like his uncle instead of an officer in the Air Force?"
Jessica's disapproval might be the inciting incident of some book, but positioned as the inciting incident of this book, it gives readers a false impression about what the book is really about.
The inciting incident should be consistent with the premise. If the story is about Kenny putting his life at risk to save the family farm, the inciting incident should be, too. Specifically, how things went from "normal" to "not normal" vis-a-vis the motorcycle and/or foreclosure situation.
Sometimes authors have trouble finding their inciting incident because their premise is just too vague: "My book is about Kenny Asheville as he struggles to become fully himself in the face of lies and secrets." "My book is about Kenny Asheville learning life lessons about love and loss." Okay, that's all nice and friendly-sounding. But there's no "there" there, no suggestion of an arc or a shift from "normal" to "not normal". It's hard to locate a specific inciting incident when almost anything could fall under the premise.
If you find yourself in the vague-premise boat, perhaps narrowing it down will make it easier to select an inciting incident. Writing Mastery has an article that could help.
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "What is my premise? What inciting incident would best express it? If I'm having trouble relating my premise to a concrete inciting incident, might that indicate that my premise is too vague? How could I make it more specific?"
Tip #5: Choose one that reinforces your narrative emphasis
Every market-friendly book has primary elements it devotes more words to than anything else: A primary plot. A primary character or group of characters. Primary themes. These are the book's main narrative emphasis. Anything else is only shown to the extent that it enhances the emphasis.
"I'm writing a humor novel about a ghost who must scare away the current occupants of her haunted house before a gang of demons takes it over, killing everyone and dragging their souls to everlasting torment."
Sounds good to me. But then why is your inciting incident about the ghost redoing the bathroom plumbing as part of a larger renovation she has been working on for over eighty years and the ongoing challenge of sourcing PVC and granite tiles due to lack of a credit card? With a twenty-page sideline about her friendship with a roofer who can see dead people, and an additional ten pages just describing the roofer's relationship with his mom, who lives far away in Pittsburgh? The story gets to the demons and current occupants eventually, but they're buried in all the other details and events.
I like this premise, and humor novels usually do have a little extra wiggle room with things that feel random…but at the same time, a collection of good ideas doesn't make a narrative. It's necessary to emphasize some things over others.
Maybe as the story goes on, the renovation, roofer, and even the roofer's mom really will have a part to play…but the inciting incident itself should be something to do with how the ghost's "normal" shifted into a "not normal" involving the need to scare away the haunted house's occupants.
If the term "narrative emphasis" feels too technical or general, just remember: your inciting incident must highlight the main character, theme, and plot line. As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "What are my main character, plot line, and theme(s)? What inciting incident would focus readers' attention on those main narrative elements?"
Tip #6: Choose the one your target audience wants
Early-career authors are prone to making plot decisions based on their own inspiration and input from family, friends, writing groups, and other people in their lives. However, those close-to-home readers don't necessarily represent the readers who are actually going to buy the book.
"My book is about Jae, a nonbinary teen attempting to ride the rails from Georgia to Oregon to find their bio-mom in hopes of escaping the foster system."
Then why is your inciting incident about how Jae's cisgender foster brother is about to get kicked out of school for selling cocaine to school staff...leading to a rising action mostly about the brother and brother's girlfriend's teen pregnancy?
"My beta readers told me they were interested in Jae's foster brother, so I expanded his role."
Fair enough, but your query says this story is for queer readers and their allies. Mightn't queer readers, and nonbinary readers in particular, want to see an inciting incident directly involving Jae?
When imagining your inciting incident, really try to picture your specific target audience. What would they find compelling, relatable, curiosity-provoking, and stakes-raising? The opinions of the people around you don't necessarily matter...unless they're helping you brainstorm the needs of your target audience.
If you're writing in the hopes of getting agent representation or winning a literary contest, your target audience gets a new layer: what inciting incident will the agent or contest judge find distinctive? What will set it apart from other books in their submissions pool?
Find out as much as you can about your target audience before you try to come up with your inciting incident. Read up on the demographic. Spend time with them. Ask them what they care about. Read whatever else they're reading. Go online and research your prospective agents or contest judges.
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask:
"Who am I really writing this book for? What are their day-to-day concerns, fears, hopes, needs? How are they being underserved by the books currently available to them? What inciting incident would be the most relatable, riveting, stakes-raising to them?"
"What specific agents or writing contest judges am I hoping to get attention from? What books have they represented/awarded in the past? What inciting incident would help my book stand out from others in their pile?"
Tip #7: Make it primarily character-driven, plot-driven, or theme-driven, just like the rest of your book
All popular novels have plot, character, and theme arcs, but will pick one as primary and designate the others as supporting. For example, most speculative fiction, like Jurassic Park or The Three-Body Problem, is primarily theme-driven, with character and plot arcs supporting the development of the themes. These books have theme-driven inciting incidents: the rising action is initiated by the characters encountering ideas that make them question their understanding of reality. In contrast, thrillers and crime novels tend to be plot-driven. Domestic dramas, psychological dramas, and romances tend to be character-driven.
Once a novel commits to a drive source, that's it. The book doesn't change midway through, for example, from character-driven to theme-driven. If the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution are character-driven, the inciting incident should be, too.
I once critiqued a book that was billed as a psychological coming-of-age narrative, ostensibly character-driven. However, the inciting incident was the kidnapping of the protagonist's younger sister. I can understand why the author thought it might work: kidnapping is dramatic and might well impact a protagonist's psychology. The problem was that the kidnapping was external to the character, belonging more to a plot-driven book.
The author ended up choosing a more psychologically-based inciting incident for the protagonist, a series of troubling dreams that made her believe that her sister was still alive. The kidnapping still happened, but in a supportive rather than primary role.
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "What is the main thing my book is exploring: the events of the plot arc? The character's internal development? Themes and ideas? How can my inciting incident reflect that?"
If your answer to this question is, "They are all equally important," that could indicate you don't yet have clear narrative emphasis. You might need to firm up which parts of the story are primary and which are supporting.
Tip #8: Choose one that reinforces your book's genre expression
All six of the main narrative stages, including the inciting incident, must double down on your chosen genre or genre mix. Writing historical Wild West romance? The inciting incident should involve things that are historical, Wild West-y, and romantic. Writing a literary novel about chess masters? The inciting incident should be in the literary fiction mode and involve something chess-related.
You'd be shocked at how resistant authors can be to the idea of genre consistency. I once worked on a crime novel set in outer space…but the inciting incident was a young zookeeper in Perth noticing that her favorite kangaroo had gone missing. I'm not saying that could never work, but dear reader, it did not work. It belonged to a whole 'nother book.
The author assured me it was the best choice because he "didn't want to make things too easy for the reader." Other authors defend their random-feeling inciting incidents by saying "That's just where the story took me" or "That's what the character told me to do."
Those books don't typically succeed on the market. If you're writing space crime, the inciting incident should give space crime.
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "What is my book's genre identity? How can my inciting incident enhance that genre identity? If my book is hybrid-genre, what inciting incident will express all of the hybrid elements?"
Tip #9: Make sure it's within your book's scope
An inciting incident can take place before a book starts, but not too far back. An effective inciting incident will fall squarely within your book's chosen scope.
Scope has to do with how much "stuff" a book includes: the span of time, number of settings, number of characters, amount of ideas, size of the cast, and more.
Authors are creative people who can imagine a huge amount of things and love to express themselves. Scope can balloon out of control pretty quickly to the point where it's hard to tell what a book is about.
Memoirs are prime offenders when it comes to putting the inciting incident too far back. If a book's blurb describes it as "a riveting account of one woman's battle with breast cancer," the inciting incident should have to do with the start of that battle. It's a red flag if the reader opens the book and sees something like, "It all started when my great-grandmother immigrated to Minnesota from Sweden."
Of course, writing is never one-size-fits-all. Maybe the great-grandmother immigrated to a Minnesota town that, unbeknownst to her, was being severely polluted by a nearby lead-smelting plant, causing a generational cycle of breast cancer within the author's family. In that case, though, maybe the blurb needs to be changed to be up front with readers about the wider scope if the book is actually "a riveting account of a family's multi-generational battle with cancer in the heart of lead-smelting country".
Novelists who love character backstory can also struggle to keep the inciting incident within the story's scope. "This book is about Binyamin and Jeshua's journey to Fillipi from Akre. However, it wouldn't have happened if Jeshua hadn't been born in Sha-hel, or if Binyamin had gone to his aunt's settlement instead of ending up in Ra-ael in the years before Jeshua's sister introduced them. So really, the inciting incident is the schism that sent Jeshua's parents to Sha-hel and Binyamin to Ra-ael."
Say it with me now: No. It's. Not.
If you're committed to writing a book about the journey to Fillipi from Akre, then readers really don't need to know all that backstory. It's beyond the scope of the current book.
Maybe a tiny bit will show up to support the forward movement of the Fillipi-Akre trek...or maybe it won't. Either way, don't just throw it out. If readers like your novel, you'll be glad you saved it. Prequel time!
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "What is the scope of my story? Do the options I'm weighing fall comfortably within that scope?"
Tip #10: Incorporate the book's major style points, motifs, symbols, or metaphors
All market-friendly novels and memoirs use symbols, motifs, and style, even if that style is "transparent style". The major motifs, metaphors, and symbols should be incorporated into every narrative stage from exposition to resolution. That includes the inciting incident. Style should remain consistent throughout.
Going back to Kenny Asheville's daredevil motorcycle jumping, imagine a version of the book that uses the motif of a key: the key to his motorcycle, the key to his father's farmhouse, the key to the bank safety deposit box where they keep the deed; Kenny seeing his own do-or-die stunt as the "key" to saving the farm, etc. Maybe the inciting incident could involve a key of some kind, too. What if Kenny finds out the farm is in trouble when his father locks himself into the farmhouse and won't come out? Or what if he comes home from the garage one day to find a slick, shiny, expensively printed eviction notice rolled up tight and shoved into the big, old, iron keyhole in the front door?
Style goals can give clues, too. If you're going for a clean, spare voice, don't give Kenny an overwrought reaction full of ten-dollar words. Keep it spare. Maybe choose a setting and event that will aid a clean voice rather than tempting you to get too rich with vocabulary and detail. For example, don't have Kenny find out about the threat of foreclosure in the middle of the town fair surrounded by costumes, rides, interesting foods and smells, colorful people and strangers. Put him on the dusty porch with his dad on the other side of the old plank door and no one else around for miles.
On the other hand, if the style is meant to be more ornate, put him (just for instance) in a church or by a river, somewhere the language has a place to dwell on beauty and intricacy even as Kenny's world is rocked by news of the impending foreclosure.
As you think about your own inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask:
"What are my major motifs, symbols, and metaphors? How can I use my inciting incident to bring one or more to the fore?"
"What style am I going for? What inciting incident would help me maximize the potentialities of that style?"
Tip #11: Work backwards from a later narrative stage
Many authors I talk to view their inciting incident through the lens of character or plot: "What would Taylor do now?" "Where does the high school football story truly begin?" This approach is fine but can lead to frustration when ideas aren't coming, as well as weak direction later if the chosen incident doesn't lead to a strong through-line.
All six narrative stages need to be about the same main plot. So if you already know one stage, like the climax, you can work backwards to find your inciting incident.
For example, maybe you know your climax involves a cave explorer finally emerging into the sunlight and fresh air. Working backwards from that, the inciting incident could be the decision to explore that specific cave.
Or maybe it's the moment in the cave when the expedition shifts from routine to extra dangerous.
Or maybe the book sets us up with a temporary inciting incident in the decision to explore the cave, then later in the story we learn the real inciting incident was actually twenty years ago when the caver's older sibling vanished in that cave.
Use the bigger picture of your narrative emphasis to guide your decisions.
As you think about your inciting incident, it can be helpful to ask: "What am I already set on in my exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution? How can I work backwards from those anchors to find my rising action? What had to change about 'normal' life in my book to lead to the parts of my plot that I'm satisfied with?"
Tip #12: See what incidents are found in similar books
Don't laugh, but choosing an inciting incident can be as easy as looking at other books in your genre to see what they're doing.
No, it's not cheating. No, readers won't be mad. Few readers criticize a book for its inciting incident. They might not even notice it at all. They just need something they can feel in their gut has gotten the main plot going.
So look at recent books in your genre and ask: "What is the moment when things went from normal to not normal? How would that translate in my book?"
Tip #13: Just pick one
Because writers tend to think of an inciting incident as something that happens near the beginning of a book, they might feel they have to think of it early on in the composition process. That's hard, especially because the inciting incident is part of a larger system. If you don't have anything else about the system settled yet, it can feel like pulling the whole engine for a story out of thin air.
So if you feel backed into a corner and still have no idea what your WIP (Work In Progress) is really about, you're not alone.
No worries, though, because it's fine just to pick something to act as scaffolding, then replace it or modify it when a clearer picture emerges about genre, scope, narrative emphasis, premise, and more.
Possible tools for Just Picking an incident include:
Putting the first ten things that come into your mind on little pieces of paper, then picking one out of a hat
Pulling a tarot card
Opening the dictionary and putting your finger down on a random word
Going with your gut
Asking your cat or dog and pretending they replied to you (or maybe they actually do reply to you in their way)
Mirroring the inciting incident from another book you like
You are not committing to this choice. It's just scaffolding to help you start putting the rest of the system together, so it's likely that you'll have to change it later. So don't get too attached, or you might end up with a sprawling, lopsided, or flat manuscript in the long run.
Tip #14: Realizing it's just one tiny part of the whole
Choosing an inciting incident can feel like a lot of pressure since it kicks off the whole plot. But in the big picture, it's just one little thing that most readers won't even notice.
A market-friendly book is a system made of many small parts working together to create an escalating pattern of tension and release. As long as your inciting incident contributes to that pattern without distracting from it, everything will be okay.
So no stress! Plug an inciting incident into your WIP and keep on going!
Categories: Advice for Writers, Annie in the Middle
