Last week we discussed what is the inciting incident and the importance in your story, along with 3 types of to consider. If you missed it click the link below to watch first. This week, I’ve got 6 tips for you to consider when crafting your inciting incident and placing it in just the right moment in your story to engage your reader and launch your plot.
You have me thinking all the time Lynn. Thanks for another insightful episode.
Thanks Cynthia, I try.
I am challenged by these videos – in an interesting way! The books you referenced are fictional works in which the inciting incidents have been created as part of the fictional story; my family history is a series of real mini-stories from various families which I patch together with fictional elements to glue it all together. Since I’m not trying to create a fictional family history, the inciting incident has to be either true or probably true. I guess the challenge will be to find a mundane event that was real and can be slightly adapted to create an exciting “pop” at the start of the history – the reason that everything changed for my ancestor. I’m trying to process this whole idea!
Hi Pat, when writing true stories, we borrow from the techniques of fictional writers to bring our stories to life on the page. This is at the very nature of what we are writing; creative nonfiction. The creative refers to the fictional writing techniques that we use to write our true stories. However, a fictional writer can just make things up, but as a creative nonfiction writer, we are challenged with the task of looking at the research we have accumulated about our ancestor and finding the story that lies within. We then use story structure to deliver it to the reader in an entertaining and compelling way. The inciting incident is a important element of that story structure. So, yes, you need to look to the life of your ancestor and find the event that propelled him or her on their journey for the story you’ve decided to tell.