Ten Inciting Incidents to help you write your book (Part 2)
alexandrasokoloff.substack.com
The Inciting Incident, Inciting Event, or Call to Adventure is the real start of your book or script. It is a life-changing event (even if it may not seem so at first) that will challenge your protagonist to take action to get their heart’s DESIRE. It is crucial to the success of your writing for you to understand what an Inciting Incident is and how to make it play effectively for your reader/audience.
Hi Alexandra - kudos on all the wonderful work. It's funny, in my case I've always looked at the inciting incident and the call to adventure as two separate things. For me the II is the initial kick, the hook - the initial scene that sets the tone. I love a good II - and you mention Indy. In Raiders, that opening sets the tone of the film in a fantastic way - as an audience, you know exactly what type of film you'll be getting. To me, the II doesn't even have to feature the protagonist - but it absolutely must set the tone and hook the audience into that film/world.
The call to adventure, in the case of Indy is, as you say, when he accepts the job to get the ark before the Nazis do. Off the top of my head I can't think of a movie where the II is also the call to adventure. Heck, it's probably all semantics. If, in Raiders, Indy job acceptance is both II and call to adventure - what do you call the opening sequence that sets the tone and hooks the audience? Just wondering!
Hi Alexandra - kudos on all the wonderful work. It's funny, in my case I've always looked at the inciting incident and the call to adventure as two separate things. For me the II is the initial kick, the hook - the initial scene that sets the tone. I love a good II - and you mention Indy. In Raiders, that opening sets the tone of the film in a fantastic way - as an audience, you know exactly what type of film you'll be getting. To me, the II doesn't even have to feature the protagonist - but it absolutely must set the tone and hook the audience into that film/world.
The call to adventure, in the case of Indy is, as you say, when he accepts the job to get the ark before the Nazis do. Off the top of my head I can't think of a movie where the II is also the call to adventure. Heck, it's probably all semantics. If, in Raiders, Indy job acceptance is both II and call to adventure - what do you call the opening sequence that sets the tone and hooks the audience? Just wondering!