UPDATE
An inciting incident is the second most important scene you’ll write behind your novel’s climax. It’s a crucial moment because it sets up why a reader should care about the rest of the book. It’s the hook that will keep someone reading until they figure out whether the protagonist will succeed or fail. You can write a book review and share your experiences. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books you've read. Whether you've loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. Underlying the idea of rape as a go-to concept is the idea that the fallout from the incident will inform the character “forever,” this writer adds. “You can use it as a reason for anything. Cirque des Souvenirs One year ago today, the very first part of the Swan Crossing Project was posted on r/nosleep.It was the third story I ever posted on Reddit, the second I posted on r/nosleep, and the first that showed me that strangers on the Internet could read my work and want to read more. In fact, the inciting incident here takes place on the one-year anniversary of her death, which is just one more coincidence in a story practically built out of them. Whether the show will continue.
Hello everyone on itchio!
After a long time, we are finally releasing our first Lucid9 update in the form of our Heroine Prologues release. In it, you will find the following things:
- The addition of 'Heroine Prologues', scenes that will act as the beginning story for each heroine's route, narrated from their own PIV. This content will appear on the start screen once the game has been completed the first time.
- A mysterious 'UNDO' option which replaces the START button in the main menu (it will lead you to the prologues).
- Updated artwork for a number of returning characters as well as artwork for new characters joining the cast.
- Minor text and grammar issues have also been fixed.
- Between 1 and 2 hours of new content, a sneak-peek of what's to come!
We are using achievements to track progress on Steam, so people over there can play the prologues even if they've switched computers and/or lost their saves. Since that's not an option normally with itchio, we have uploaded a Save File at the very end of the game for those who've lost their saves. Simply load and skip to the end in order to play the prologues.
To add the Save Files, you simply need to extract its contents in Lucid9's game folder, or merge it with the save folder if it already exists. You will find this save state in the very last page when selecting which file to load.
ISSUE WITH OLD SAVES
Last week, we briefly pushed this update on Steam, only to find out people were having trouble loading their old saves, as it would pop up an error before returning them to the beginning of the game.
We found out this was due to Lucid9: Inciting Incident using an older version of our engine, Ren'py, than what we have been using to develop the rest of the game. This was an unexpected problem on our part, and we apologize. Sadly, we couldn't find an easy fix to this problem without undoing months of work in the game's code.
Which is why we eventually came up with an alternative solution: older saves made in Lucid9: Inciting Incident prior to this update will automatically go through a 'compatibility fix'. If you load one of these saves, you won't be loaded in the exact spot as you were before, but rather the beginning of the Day / Chapter in which the save was made. This will only happen once, after which you'll be able to save and load normally.
We apologize, as this will certainly be inconvenient for some our players, but we of Fallen Snow Studios ultimately decided this was the best solution to ensure development going forward is as smooth as possible. Again, we are sorry, and we promise this will not happen again.
Thank you for your patience and continuous support, and we hope you enjoy this new addition to the story!
I like to compare plots of novels to a quest. Something happens in the character’s life, it makes them want something big, and then they have to go on a long journey, whether that’s an inner journey or a literal journey, to try to get what they want. They emerge forever changed.
That thing that knocks the character’s life ajar is called many things, everything from the “inciting incident” to the “premise” to the “call to adventure.” For the purposes of this post, let’s go with inciting incident. (I’m also going to refer to protagonist in the singular, these principles still apply even if you have multiple protagonists).
Here’s what you need to know.
In this post I’ll cover how to…
- Show a glimpse of a character’s normal life
- Craft a good inciting incident
- Close off the easy escape routes
- Clarify the protagonist’s goal
- Send the character on their way
Show a glimpse of a character’s normal life
Even if you jump right into the action and include the inciting incident very early in a novel, it’s good to give the reader a sense of the character’s life before it starts to change.
The contrast between the life the character used to know and their present circumstances becomes powerful as the novel goes along, since the protagonist often craves a return to that comfortable normal life (Frodo missing the shire in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) or it serves as a useful contrast for how far the protagonist has voyaged (Harry Potter and the Dursleys).
The challenge here is that while it’s good to show a character’s normal life… normal life is often extremely boring and static. Very often when I’m editing novels I see authors try to “establish” secondary characters and the protagonist’s normal life through a series of scenes where not that much happens, which gets the novel off to a very flat start.
The solution here: give the character a mini-quest. Show the character trying to accomplish something that’s important to them in their “normal” life, even if it’s not the big thing you’re setting up as the main plot.
Craft a good inciting incident
An inciting incident is the second most important scene you’ll write behind your novel’s climax.
It’s a crucial moment because it sets up why a reader should care about the rest of the book. It’s the hook that will keep someone reading until they figure out whether the protagonist will succeed or fail.
Here are the elements of a good inciting incident:
- It knocks the protagonist’s life ajar. A good inciting incident shakes a protagonist out of their comfort zone. It tugs at their emotions and serves as a literal or metaphorical punch on the nose.
- It provokes them in an intriguing way. Often the inciting incident will stir latent desires within the protagonist and create new opportunities and perils.
- It makes them want something big. Once the inciting incident happens, it forces the protagonist to go after something in order to try to restore the balance in their life. (More on this in a sec)
Sure, it’s a film, but Star Wars: A New Hope is a great example of an excellent inciting incident. When Luke Skywalker sees the hologram of Princess Leia he’s immediately stricken, it stirs his desire for adventure (he immediately complains to his aunt and uncle about being bored), and it leads him toward Obi Wan Kenobi and eventually wanting to save said princess on the Death Star.
Even in literary novels, an inciting incident might be a bit more diffuse and subtle, but it’s still there. For instance, in Gilead, Marilynne Robinson gets right to the inciting incident in the first page. John Ames tells his young son that he’s old and could die before his son really knows him:
I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I’m old, and you said, I don’t think you’re old. …
If you’re a grown man when you read this–it is my intention for this letter that you will read it then–I’ll have been gone a long time.
Ames’s conversation with his son inspires him to go on a “quest” of trying to impart a sense of himself and his family’s legacy to a son who won’t ever truly know him.
Above all, a good inciting incident inspires a sense that a protagonist’s life will never be the same. They can’t put the genie back in the bottle. They have to work very hard to return to anything resembling normalcy.
Close off the easy escape routes
Once the inciting incident has happened, slam the door on the possibility of things going back to normal. Show the reader that the protagonist can’t escape their quest.
For instance, in Star Wars, Luke is skeptical about Obi Wan Kenobi and initially refuses the call to adventure, but he returns home to see that stormtroopers have killed his aunt and uncle and burned everything. Luke can’t return home even if he wanted to.
In my novel Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow, once the kids are in outer space, I didn’t want to make it easy for them to get back home. So I blocked off the route back to earth with the titular cosmic space kapow.
And in Gilead, John Ames says early on that a doctor has told him his heart is failing. He doesn’t have long to live. He can’t just hope that he’ll live to a ripe old age.
Close off those escape routes early. It will help focus the protagonist and force them onto their quest.
Clarify the protagonist’s big goal
Once the inciting incident happens, it inspires the protagonist to want something big. This doesn’t always have to happen immediately, it may take the protagonist some time to piece together the implications. But really focus the reader on that goal.
In my opinion, you can’t possibly be too clear about what a character wants. Sharpen this, paint a clear picture for the reader of what happens if a character succeeds and what they fear will happen if they fail. This will form the basis of the stakes of the novel.
To wit: in Star Wars, Luke Skywalker says precisely what he wants. Out loud.
“I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father.”
Boom. There you have it. Goal established.
In Gilead, Ames’ desire is more implied than stated outright, but it’s still clear enough. Ames says…
I do regret that I have almost nothing to leave you and your mother. A few old books no one else would want. I never made any money to speak of, and I never paid any attention to the money I had. It was the furthest thing from my mind that I’d be leaving a wife and child, believe me. I’d have been a better father if I’d known. I’d have set something by for you.
Though he doesn’t come straight out and say it, it’s very clear what Ames wants to leave behind in lieu of material possessions: this letter that tells his son about his family’s legacy.
The protagonist going after the big goal forms the spine of the plot. Wanting to see if the character will succeed or fail will pull a reader through the novel to see if they get it.
Send the characters on their way
Once a protagonist’s life can never be the same and they have a big goal, they need to go after that thing. We need to see them actively pursuing their goal.
This part is so crucial. You’ve just established a big goal. If the protagonist then sits around or is passive in the face of that goal, the reader’s natural conclusion is that the protagonist can’t really care about it. And it’s hard for the reader to invest in a protagonist that doesn’t care.
Once the journey begins, you start placing obstacles of increasing intensity in the protagonist’s way and the rest of the plot unfolds toward the climax.
Voila! You have yourself a plot.
Hope that covers everything you need to know about inciting incidents. Have any more advice? Have any favorite inciting incidents?
Take to the comments!
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: Inciting Incident Anniversary + Progress Update
Art: Albert Bierstadt – Swiss Mountain Scene