lack of 'inciting incident'

BklynWriter · Jan 14, 2013

I thought I was writing an adult dystopian urban fantasy, but in turn it seems to be more of a YA dystopian urban fantasy. My premise is not that the Mayan calendar was incorrect, but that it was interperated incorrectly. Instead of the end of the world, it is the end of the world as we know it. Magic, held in dormancy for so long, has reawakened. Throughout time there have always been unexplained occurences, paranormal events; things that could not simply be explained away. It was magic. On December 21st, 2012, magic is coming back, and at the same time, technology, and the laws of physics as we know it, starts failing.
In a nutshell, this is the world I’ve built so far. I hav e a main character Camille, who has been warned this time was coming. She’s blown it off as the ramblings of a superstitious grandmother, but she is going to learn all superstitions have basis in fact. The grandmother is her mentor character (and a betrayer), even if she doesn’t know it yet. I’m having a hard time coming up with a plausible ‘inciting incident’ that would put Camille on the path to seek out her grandmother’s help, and eventually blaze her own path.
Any thoughts/suggestions?

Susan Coffin · Jan 14, 2013

!

My only suggestion is to sit down and write your story.

job · Jan 14, 2013

BklynWriter said:
Mayan calendar was incorrect ... Magic, held in dormancy for so long, has reawakened .. she is going to learn all superstitions have basis in fact.

I’m having a hard time coming up with a plausible ‘inciting incident’ that would put Camille on the path to seek out her grandmother’s help, and eventually blaze her own path.

All that is world building.

You need story.

What does Camille, herself, desperately need?
Who or what threatens everything Camille holds dear?
What is Camille going to do about it?

Buffysquirrel · Jan 14, 2013

That font's really hard to read.

allmywires · Jan 14, 2013

I would say that if her grandmother's been rambling about it all along, and then Camille's warned it's going to happen -- wouldn't the first thing she would do be to go to the grandma? After all, with her new information, it wouldn't seem so crazy after all.

I really like the concept though - good luck with it!

willietheshakes · Jan 14, 2013

If you don't have an inciting incident, you don't have a story. You can't have one without the other.

So - how does your story begin?

dkamin · Jan 14, 2013

Maybe just try writing a scene (any scene, anywhere in the book. You might have one dancing around, so just write it down) and work back, or even forwards, from there.

BklynWriter · Jan 14, 2013

Camille can read the auras of other people, even if she doesn't always know what it means. She has also been told she is a healer, but in her experience, it has only meant that she has a wicked green thumb.

Initially, I was going to have her grandmother go missing...but is that enough for Camille to disrupt her life? Also, Camille suspects she is being watched/followed....discovering why will tie in to her grandmother, and things that her grandmother didn't prepare her for.

Ok, I'm beginning to see that I just need to write out everything that I know right now, and pull from that....

James D. Macdonald · Jan 14, 2013

BklynWriter said:
On December 21st, 2012, magic is coming back, and at the same time, technology, and the laws of physics as we know it, starts failing.

Using the phrase "inciting incident" generally means an author has spent too much time reading how-to-write books and not enough time writing.

So, how to start the book? Do you know how the book ends? Who's standing there?

Okay, back up six months from whatever the final scene is. At the same location, have the same people wanting something. It can be as simple as looking for a pizza. So, get them looking for that pizza. Have something stop them from achieving that goal. Continue from that point.

The perfect opening may not appear until you're in second-draft territory.

Little Ming · Jan 14, 2013

I think you're spending too much time on world building and not enough on character. Stories are basically: Character wants something. So what does your character want?

BklynWriter said:
Camille can read the auras of other people, even if she doesn't always know what it means. She has also been told she is a healer, but in her experience, it has only meant that she has a wicked green thumb.

This is all fine and good, but it's also superficial. It doesn't tell us anything about who your character really is, what does she want, what does she fear, what does she love, what is she willing to do, etc.

Initially, I was going to have her grandmother go missing...but is that enough for Camille to disrupt her life? You tell us. Seriously, you need to know who your character is, and what makes her tick. So... is this enough? Also, Camille suspects she is being watched/followed....discovering why will tie in to her grandmother, and things that her grandmother didn't prepare her for.

Ok, I'm beginning to see that I just need to write out everything that I know right now, and pull from that....

quickWit · Jan 14, 2013

James D. Macdonald said:
Okay, back up six months from whatever the final scene is. At the same location, have the same people wanting something. It can be as simple as looking for a pizza. So, get them looking for that pizza.

"There stood John, Ezekiel and Goober the Wonder-Sloth, standing before the edge of infinity at the end of time. They'd done it. They'd finally defeated the invaders, beaten back destiny and won their large pizza with...with..."

aww, crap!

*googles 'pizza toppings'

Wilde_at_heart · Jan 14, 2013

BklynWriter said:
Camille can read the auras of other people, even if she doesn't always know what it means. She has also been told she is a healer, but in her experience, it has only meant that she has a wicked green thumb.

Initially, I was going to have her grandmother go missing...but is that enough for Camille to disrupt her life? Also, Camille suspects she is being watched/followed....discovering why will tie in to her grandmother, and things that her grandmother didn't prepare her for.

Ok, I'm beginning to see that I just need to write out everything that I know right now, and pull from that....

I would think so, but depends on how you set up Camille. If her gran going missing was unexpected and no one else is able to search for her than absolutely that is enough. Family is family for most people, even if they are estranged...

MakanJuu · Jan 14, 2013

Well, however you decide to do it, it sounds like it has a hell of a lot of potential. I'd definately give it a go myself, if you manage to finish it.

Anyway, yes, focus on character & how you think Camille would react to any given situation. If it helps, make charts, lists, flash cards & the like. Then start swinging situations around to bounce off her & see what you want to do.

Buffysquirrel · Jan 14, 2013

Pizza?

I would think if the grandmother disappears in a way that is reminiscent of what she's predicted, that would do the job.

cbenoi1 · Jan 14, 2013

job said:
All that is world building.

You need story.

What does Camille, herself, desperately need?
Who or what threatens everything Camille holds dear?
What is Camille going to do about it?

Ditto.

> Pizza?
>
> I would think if the grandmother disappears in a way that is reminiscent
> of what she's predicted, that would do the job.

She stole the last of the pizza mushrooms - which happen to be magic - and is now living in the Cayman Islands under a new identity.

-cb

cmi0616 · Jan 14, 2013

dkamin said:
Maybe just try writing a scene (any scene, anywhere in the book. You might have one dancing around, so just write it down) and work back, or even forwards, from there.

This.

It's important that you know how your story ends, but the beginning isn't as essential when you start writing. Beginnings, you'll find, change drastically, even when you do have them. It's not uncommon for a tenth chapter to become a first or a first to become a tenth.

dfwtinman · Jan 15, 2013

James D. Macdonald said:
Using the phrase "inciting incident" generally means an author has spent too much time reading how-to-write books and not enough time writing.

This.

To me, the notion of an "inciting incident" sounds like a plotting tool for a movie script, novelette or novella.

With respect to a novel, for instance, what is the "inciting incident" of Anna Karenina? It's not Vronsky falling off his horse. And what of Levin, the novel's South Pole? Though it might seem otherwise, I am not being snarky.

Is there any point you wish to make about a universe in which magic trumps the laws of physics? What is the source of this magic? Is magic a neutral tool in this world? Or is Evil a supernatural force in opposition to
Good? From what you describe, it just seems (to me) that there are more interesting and fundamental questions to ask before settling on any activating plot point.

_Sian_ · Jan 15, 2013

There is a personal inciting incident of Anna Karenina differs for each character's story. But the fact of the matter is that none of those stories would have ended up the same without Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky cheating on his wife. There's your overall inciting incident. It colours Kitty's and Levin's story, and creates the circumstances that bring Anna out to their house, where she meets Count Vronsky

It's the inciting incident because without it, none of this would have happened. Every story has an inciting incident. It doesn't even have to be on screen or on page. You can start the story with the character reacting to it.

You're beginning is not the same thing. You can have your beginning anywhere, really, if you put your mind to it. You can frame the story, have it start 500 years in the future, and not identify the inciting incident if you feel like it.

But by definition, the inciting incident incites everything. No story without it.

Returning to the OP: Look for the action or circumstance that starts everything. Doesn't have to involve the MC, but it will effect her. Inciting incidents are easy to find, imo. Beginnings, not so much.

Sonsofthepharaohs · Jan 15, 2013

Agree with what everyone else has said, but also...

If your story premise is tied to a specific real life event, and that event is already in the past, your story is already dated. By the time you've written it, subbed it, got representation, sold it, and it's been published, that event will be several years in the past and your story no longer current.

I think it would be better to make your real world/magic world watershed based on a fictional prediction.

Linda Adams · Jan 15, 2013

The inciting incident often gets described as something big and exciting like an explosion. It can be something as simple as a decision the characters make that puts them on the path of the story. For example, a character can decide to walk away or to help. The decision then can lead to other things, like being forced to ask grandmother for help.

Sonsofthepharaohs · Jan 15, 2013

The beginning of my story is the conclusion of a trial, where my MC (police chief) secures the conviction he wanted. The inciting incident occurs in the pub afterwards, where he finds a piece of missing evidence that turns the conviction on its head. Everything that happens afterwards is a domino effect from his reaction to that discovery.

Is there something like this in your story? Something that spurs the MC into action?

brianjanuary · Jan 15, 2013

An inciting incident that hooks the reader and sets up the genre of the story is essential for good storytelling, so I would take the time to think about it carefully. From the information you've provided, it sounds like Camille should run head-on into some paranormal experience right off the bat--something which she doesn't understand (and which the reader doesn't understand either but which hooks him/her to stay with the story) and which scares her. Then she goes to her grandmother for help, etc. Then more events start happening around Camille, leading to a big one at Plot Point One that starts the story going. Think of Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (a bad example, because I think it's a terrible movie, but it's set up well): we see Tom Cruise going about his daily routine, we learn that his family has broken up and he's trying to form a good relationship with his kids, etc.; weird weather, lightning strikes, and strange colors in the sky start to happen, everyone is scared (Inciting Incident); then comes Plot Point One, where the alien machine bursts out of the street and starts vaporizing people, and now the actual story kicks in.

James D. Macdonald · Jan 15, 2013

Tell your story. Let the academics, afterward, figure out what the "inciting incident" was.

StephanieK · Jan 15, 2013

James D. Macdonald said:
Tell your story. Let the academics, afterward, figure out what the "inciting incident" was.

I like this. I think I spend too much time looking at my story from a reader's perspective instead of a writer's.

Kallithrix said:
If your story premise is tied to a specific real life event, and that event is already in the past, your story is already dated. By the time you've written it, subbed it, got representation, sold it, and it's been published, that event will be several years in the past and your story no longer current.

I think it would be better to make your real world/magic world watershed based on a fictional prediction.

I completely agree with this. As cool as the premise of your story is, it needed to be done a few years ago in order to be relevent. If you simply tweak it, though, so that it's a fictional prediction, that problem is solved.

dfwtinman · Jan 15, 2013

_Sian_ said:
There is a personal inciting incident of Anna Karenina differs for each character's story. But the fact of the matter is that none of those stories would have ended up the same without Prince Stepan Arkadyevitch Oblonsky cheating on his wife. There's your overall inciting incident. It colours Kitty's and Levin's story, and creates the circumstances that bring Anna out to their house, where she meets Count Vronsky

Sian, I enjoyed your feedback. Confession: my comment as to the I/I in AK does not amount to a rigorously rendered or observed conviction. More precisely, it’s the very kind of untested thought which creeps into my mind at 2:38 PM J (hmm, so perhaps I should’ve waited ‘til morning? Fair point.).

That said, I understood the Original Poster as looking for an organizing event to drive her creation of a story. In sum, a writing device. For me, the notion that there exists a “personal inciting incident [which] differs for each character's story” wanders a good bit from the OP’s request (and the context in which the term "inciting incident" is most generally used).

Obviously, there are a multitude of characters in AK, but I can’t imagine the good Count having worked out in advance an I/I for each of them, if any of them (I’ve read a little of Leo on Leo, but I don’t profess any scholarly insight). Your analysis of the I/I (or, incidents) for AK strikes me as an after-the-fact effort to deconstruct the story, not create it. As to Prince Oblonsky’s infidelity being the I/I in AK, I am unconvinced. Your use of the verb “colours” lacks the strength to make your point. A passel of events “colour” the stories of Kitty, Levin, Anna, Karenin, etc. I could be wrong (it happens frequently), but I’d have to see a lot more textual evidence to be persuaded that Oblonsky’s cheating is the I/I for the story of Levin (just as one example) or the novel as a whole.

lack of 'inciting incident'

BklynWriter

Susan Coffin

Tell it like it Is

job

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

Buffysquirrel

allmywires

Rock-licker

willietheshakes

Gentleman. Scholar. Bastard.

dkamin

BklynWriter

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Little Ming

quickWit

Totally Ninja!

Wilde_at_heart

υπείκωphobe

MakanJuu

Buffysquirrel

cbenoi1

cmi0616

dfwtinman

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned" P.V.

_Sian_

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

Sonsofthepharaohs

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy

Linda Adams

Soldier, Storyteller

Sonsofthepharaohs

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy

brianjanuary

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

StephanieK

dfwtinman

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned" P.V.

lack of 'inciting incident'

Tell it like it Is

In the end, it's just you and the manuscript

Rock-licker

Gentleman. Scholar. Bastard.

Your Genial Uncle

Totally Ninja!

&#965;&#960;&#949;&#943;&#954;&#969;phobe

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned" P.V.

Ooooh, pretty lights and sirens :D

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy

Soldier, Storyteller

Still writing the ancient Egyptian tetralogy

Your Genial Uncle

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned" P.V.

υπείκωphobe