Inciting Incident Ignorance

This month's article was originally inspired by a thread I encountered on a popular screenwriters' message board (which shall remain nameless) a few months back. The topic started simply enough, with one user asking for someone to identify the inciting incident of one of the most popular and widely-seen movies of all time, Star Wars. It seemed to be a question that needed only one or two responses from a knowledgeable reader and that be it. But instead, the thread stretched on for well over TEN PAGES. The mind-boggling thing was that most of the answers were absolutely wrong. Every moment found over the first half of the movie, from its opening shot to actions that occur an hour into the film, was brought forward by one user or another as the definite inciting incident. The fact that there can be such widespread confusion over a concept so fundamental to cinematic narrative structure shines a light on why so many spec scripts are so poorly put together.

I put the blame once again on the glut of screenwriting books on the market, and the confusing array of inaccurate information they have spilled across the writing community for the last dozen years. Most aspiring writers assume that just because a book has been published, the author must be an expert and his or her information is accurate. This is often not the case. Since so many books lead readers in contradictory or inaccurate directions on something as fundamental as the inciting incident, I must once again assert that most of the books on the market do the screenwriting community more harm than good.

In this article I intend to clear the confusion by laying out once and for all exactly what the “inciting incident” is, what it does, and where is should occur.

WHAT IS THE INCITING INCIDENT?

Let's start by reviewing the basics:

1. A STORY is defined as “a structured series of events about a character dealing with a PROBLEM, unified by a premise.” -- For the purposes of this article, the most important part of this definition is the problem. All stories, at their simplest levels, revolve around characters struggling with, and trying to overcome a particular story problem.
   
   
2. Cinematic stories carry out their narratives through a structure known as the STORY SPINE. The Story Spine is composed of five elements: a. the Story Problem, b. the main character's Story Goal that once achieved, will overcome the problem, c. the Path of Actions the character takes to reach that goal, d. the Main Conflict that opposes the character's efforts, and e. the Stakes that force the character to continue pursuing that goal despite the conflict's resistance. -- Everything in a well-written cinematic story relates to these five elements. If a story does not contain a spine with all five elements, it will be incomplete and will fail in its execution.

Until a Story Spine has been established, the story has yet to properly begin. The narrative cannot advance because there is not yet any clear direction for it to go. The drama is still in the runner's blocks, waiting for the starter's pistol. Until the spine is established, the cinematic story is still in its setup sequence. The setup sequence is like setting up the pieces on a chess board before play begins. Piece are being put here or there, but the conflict of the game has not yet begun. The inciting incident is the moment play begins. It is the starter's pistol that leaps the story off its blocks and sends it on its path towards the finish line.

The inciting incident is defined as the moment when the Story Problem invades the protagonist's life in such as way that it forces the protagonist to do something about it. From this point on, every story event centers on the protagonist's attempts to overcome the problem. The inciting incident officially starts the story by setting up the Story Spine and its five elements. The Story Problem presents itself to the protagonist. Because of this, the protagonist forms an idea of what kind of Story Goal he or she must pursue, and what is at Stake should he or she fail. The protagonist then decides what first steps must be taken down his or her Path of Action. These actions then incite the Main Conflict to create resistance.

The inciting incident has not occurred until the story has reached a point where at least some aspect of ALL five elements of the Story Spine have been established. This is likely the source of much of the confusion over what moment officially constitutes a certain film's inciting incident. In some stories, an event establishes all five elements of the Spine in an immediate and simultaneous manner. In others, there can be a slight delay between the establishment of the Problem, the Goal, the first step of the Path of Action, etc... This leads to our second question:

HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN THE INCITING INCIDENT HAS OCCURRED?

The inciting incident has not occurred until three qualifications have been met:

1. The Story Problem exists.
2. The protagonist becomes aware of the Story Problem.
3. The protagonist decides to do something about that Story Problem.

1. The Story Problem exists.

Given the definition of “story” presented previously, it goes without saying that a storyline cannot begin to form until a problem arises. Before this happens, the narrative is just a bunch of people carrying on with their daily lives. However, there are many films where the Story Problem presents itself immediately. Sometimes it arises in the first scene, sometimes it already exists or has existed for some time. But this does not mean that the inciting incident has already occurred.

The Story Problem of Star Wars is that the galaxy is ruled by an evil empire -- an empire on the verge of crushing a virtuous rebel army representing the good people's only hope for freedom. But the moment the audience learns this information is not the story's inciting incident. Neither is the moment when Darth Vader captures Princess Leia. We then understand that Princess Leia has given R2D2 a secret mission and launched R2 and C3P0 to Tatooine, where they promptly get lost. But this is not the inciting incident either. Why? Because neither Princess Leia nor R2D2 are the story's protagonist. The Story Spine is all about the direct opposition between the protagonist and the Story Problem/Main Conflict. The protagonist of Star Wars is Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker has not even appeared on screen yet. This means that all these events are simply part of the setup.

2. The protagonist becomes aware of the Story Problem.

Finally, Luke Skywalker enters the narrative when his Uncle Owen purchases the Princess's two lost droids. Though part of the Problem has now entered Luke's life, this still is not the inciting incident. Luke remains completely unaware that a problem exists or that his life has changed in any way.

But once the protagonist becomes aware of a problem, this still does not mean the inciting incident has occurred. I am personally currently aware of many dramatic problems. I am aware of the national debt crisis. I am aware of the cartel wars killing thousands in Mexico. I am aware of the civil uprising in Syria. But this by no means suggests that I am currently engaged in a dramatic struggle to fix any of these problems. Even though I am aware of these problems, I continue on as usual because these problems have not yet impacted the status quo of my life in a way that motivates me to take action. This is the same situation which exists for a protagonist at this stage.

To give an example, Lester Burnham begins American Beauty with his Story Problem already in place. His problem is that his life; with his family, his work, and his view of his own value; is unacceptable to him. From the opening moments, we understand that Lester is painfully aware of his problem. But this does not mean the inciting incident has occurred. Lester has yet to chosen to take action against the problem. Instead, he just mopes through this status quo, suffering under the problem's weight. His story adventure does not begin until the moment when:

3. The protagonist decides to do something about the problem.

American Beauty does not reach its inciting incident until the moment Lester first lays eyes his daughter's friend Angela. The lust he feels causes an “awakening” which motivates Lester to finally take action to create change in his life. From this point onward, Lester no longer simply accepts the Story Problem. He takes action after action in pursuit of a Story Goal.

It is important to note that the inciting incident occurs at the moment the protagonist decides to take action against the problem. Whether or not the protagonist takes physical action at that very moment is inconsequential. It is the change in the protagonist's consciousness that is important. In many stories, the protagonist makes this decision, but does not immediately have a chance to act. His or her first actions toward the Story Goal may have to be slightly delayed due to the logic of the narrative. Yet still, the inciting incident has occurred. The protagonist has summon his/her will and is now ready to take action as soon as an opportunity arises.

Given these three qualifications, what is the real inciting incident of Star Wars?

After the droids are purchased by Uncle Owen, Luke is ordered to clean them. While performing this mundane task, Luke triggers a fragment of message recorded by Princess Leia asking help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke is highly intrigued by this mysterious message. He can see that a problem exists (this woman seems in desperate trouble) and, due to his previously-established Rebel sympathies, Luke feels a strong desire to find out more about the message. This is the official inciting incident. Luke's desire to do something about the message leads him on the first step of his Path of Action (to find Obi-Wan Kenobi), which then leads him onward into every other event of the story.

Much of the confusion over the identity of Star Wars' inciting incident comes from the fact that, though Luke desires to take action to find Obi-Wan, he is not the character who actually makes the first move. Instead of Luke boldly hitting the road to find Obi-Wan, he is led to Obi-Wan indirectly when R2D2 runs away. This course of events turns out to be a necessity of character, not plot. Luke may want to take action, but as the story begins, he is not the type of person to be so bold. His desire to pursue the message is forbidden by Uncle Owen and Luke can do nothing to argue. In stories where the protagonist starts as passive or powerless, he or she often needs a push from an outside character to set him or her on the path to adventure. R2D2 running away is simply a dramatic means to get Luke on his Path of Action while maintaining the integrity of his character. Situations like this illuminate why the moment the protagonist finds the desire to take action predicates the inciting incident, rather than the moment the first action is taken.

INCITING INCIDENT IGNORANCE AT WORK

One of my biggest surprises of 2008 was the movie Taken. My surprise was not because such a small film performed so respectably at the box office. I was surprised that such an amateur screenplay was produced in the first place. Taken's script is a structural joke, highlighted first by the writers' inability to understand their own inciting incident.

 

Taken is the story of a father's attempts to rescue his daughter after she is kidnapped while vacationing in Paris. The simplest way to pinpoint an inciting incident is to ask what a story's main conflict is about, and then identify the moment that launches the protagonist's desire to act. Given the premise of Taken, this must be the moment the kidnapping occurs and the father commits himself to rescuing her. But instead, the writers thought the inciting incident to be to be the moment the daughter asks to go to Paris. If Taken's story was all about a father who feels sad that his daughter has gone abroad, this might work. But it is not. The daughter leaving for Paris is nothing more than another piece of setup. It does not begin the story's main conflict and definitely does not launch the Story Spine. The real inciting incident (the kidnapping) is then placed extremely late in the narrative, at the end of the first act, resulting in a movie with a dull, eventfull opening 30 minutes. This mistake threatened to lose the entire audience before the story could even start.

 

Taken faltered because it failed to identify which structural event belonged where. On the other hand, I am shocked by how many screenwriting books are so ignorant that they confuse the inciting incident with the first act turning point. I have read several which claim that the inciting incident does not need to occur until the end of the first act -- 30 minutes into the film! Let me say that another way: These books believe it to be good screencraft to keep audiences waiting for a full half hour until something worth a damn happens. This is longer than an entire episode of a television sitcom. Any book that believes an audience will sit and wait for that long before the conflict engages and the story finally begins does not know what it is talking about. If you want to bore your audience and make them wonder why they are sitting through this snorefest, go ahead and take these books' advice. Otherwise, throw the damn things out a window.

To see the effects of a long-delayed inciting incident, take a look at 2002's Minority Report. Minority Report is the futuristic story of a detective tasked with arresting pre-visioned murders before they can happen. Drama ensues when the detective himself is framed for one of these murders. Given this premise, the inciting incident is clearly the moment when the detective finds he has been fingered for murder. Only this event does not occur until FORTY minutes into the film! It takes forty whole minutes for the real story to begin! Everything before this moment is nothing more than a long, tedious setup filled with techno-babble, long-winded exposition, and a lot of Tom Cruise waving his fingers around. The final film could have been greatly improved if only its storytellers had recognized their misplaced inciting incident and done some simple editing to move it to its proper position. That way, the audience did not have to wait through forty minutes of this “action-thriller” before the action finally began.