Inciting Incident

The inciting incident is the spark that sets off the fire. It is bad news, a phone call, a revelation, encounter, mission, accident, invitation or simply a decision your hero makes. It is the event that will force your hero to leave the ordinary world and daily routine to dive into adventure world, his/her adventure.

Example Paul is at a bar having a glass of wine to get over his bad night’s work. Suddenly his wife arrives in tears. The bakery is on fire. The firemen come but can’t stop the fire. An hour later nothing remains of the bakery or of their home that was on the floor above.

EXERCISE 24 Imagine an incident that radically changes your hero’s life.

HELP Start by re-watching films you enjoyed and identify the inciting incident. It generally occurs during the first fifteen minutes of the film.

Don’t forget the inciting incident will lead us to an explanation after which your hero will decide to act. This is what the inciting incident is: a trigger.