Inciting Incident before the story begins?

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  • Inciting Incident before the story begins?

    Is this rule somewhat flexible?
    Sometimes we see a plot point happening before the beginning to add more backstory, but not necessarily set it as the inciting incident. What I mean is a situation where the character(s) gets his life transformed by a event, but before the first page of the script. This causes the movie to start right away with his/her journey without waisting a minute. Maybe not the best example, but Memento does this. Where the entire plot point is the death of the protagonist's wife, and his later memory problem. Her murder happens before the scripts begins and then he si already doing his revenge (scene order aside). We don't wait for that incident in the first 15 minutes.

    My question comes beacuse I don't have an inciting incident. Or better said, I have it as backstory. Can this be a problem or is just another rule myth that can be cheated?

  • #2
    Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

    Originally posted by Antero View Post
    Is this rule somewhat flexible?
    Sometimes we see a plot point happening before the beginning to add more backstory, but not necessarily set it as the inciting incident. What I mean is a situation where the character(s) gets his life transformed by a event, but before the first page of the script. This causes the movie to start right away with his/her journey without waisting a minute. Maybe not the best example, but Memento does this. Where the entire plot point is the death of the protagonist's wife, and his later memory problem. Her murder happens before the scripts begins and then he si already doing his revenge (scene order aside). We don't wait for that incident in the first 15 minutes.

    My question comes beacuse I don't have an inciting incident. Or better said, I have it as backstory. Can this be a problem or is just another rule myth that can be cheated?
    Of course you can do whatever you want if it works.

    That being said, I'm not sure that you are applying the "rules" of classical structure properly. Not that you have to, of course.

    At the beginning of the story, the lead is in a state of status quo. That status quo can be a reaction to something in their backstory - that doesn't make what happened to them in the past their inciting incident. That's the thing that just put them in their status quo. Sometimes we see it, sometimes we don't.

    The inciting incident, in stories like that, is the reason why the story happens NOW. Why didn't the story happen back when the backstory happened?

    Now, I haven't see Memento recently enough to really go into detail about it. I honestly don't remember it that well, but I suspect it's a particularly tricky story to analyze in this way because of the way it's told. But imagining the story told linearly, you'd probably analyze it something like this:

    Status quo: investigating wife's death. Inciting incident: Clue that suggests a perpetrator. Second act: enacting plan of revenge against perpetrator.

    In other words: without the inciting incident, he never would have been in a position to go after revenge, he would have just stayed in his status quo (investigating). The inciting incident knocks him out of his status quo, and which leads him to a new place: getting revenge.

    Something happens which makes your story happen: it makes the early part of your script different from every other 30-minute chunk of your protagonist's life since the backstory event happened, right? It's why you chose to start telling the story on your page one rather than going back 30 prior pages.

    eg, in Casablanca, Rick's inciting incident isn't that Ilsa didn't show up to the train station. That's his backstory that put him in his status quo: heartbroken, alone, wasting his life in casablanca. The inciting incident is that she shows back up - that's the event that knocks him out of his status quo, and drives him into the conflict of the story.

    If she never shows up in Casablanca, the story doesn't happen. He just hangs out being miserable forever.

    Sometimes this is about picking the right "scale" for your story. eg, the six-film Star Wars saga is about Annakin. In the context of that story, his inciting incident is probably meeting Amidala - that's the thing that eventually causes his to move away from the Jedi and towards the Sith. (Although perhaps I'm imagining a better-written version of the story here.). His status quo is as a young Jedi, and the inciting incident shakes his faith in the jedi's teaching.

    But in the original trilogy, which focuses on his redemption, the inciting incident is probably him realizing that Luke is his son - and the whole fall-from-grace thing is backstory. His status quo in the original trilogy is that he's the right-hand man of the emperor. He meets Luke, and starts to have doubts ("come with me, we'll overthrow the emperor and rule the galaxy as father and son") which eventually leads to him turning against the emperor and saving the rebellion.

    So what's Darth Vader's inciting incident? It depends on which story you're telling.

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    • #3
      Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

      Great answer, R.

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      • #4
        Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

        Originally posted by Antero View Post
        Is this rule somewhat flexible?
        Sometimes we see a plot point happening before the beginning to add more backstory, but not necessarily set it as the inciting incident. What I mean is a situation where the character(s) gets his life transformed by a event, but before the first page of the script. This causes the movie to start right away with his/her journey without waisting a minute. Maybe not the best example, but Memento does this. Where the entire plot point is the death of the protagonist's wife, and his later memory problem. Her murder happens before the scripts begins and then he si already doing his revenge (scene order aside). We don't wait for that incident in the first 15 minutes.

        My question comes beacuse I don't have an inciting incident. Or better said, I have it as backstory. Can this be a problem or is just another rule myth that can be cheated?

        Here's the point about the inciting incident. This, along with the so-called "status quo" that people also talk about, is part of what can be called the "meta story" -- it is part of the larger dramatic world, part of the "story universe" but that doesn't mean that you're necessarily going to show it.

        The very first shot, pretty much, of Seven Samurai, is the brigands riding up, seeing the town, and deciding to come back when the grain is ripe, to raid it.

        That's the inciting incident. It's what drives everything that follows. You couldn't have it any earlier without it coming before the beginning of the movie.

        You could easily have a movie in which a hero shows up in town searching for the bad guys who killed his wife (or whomever). We might not know the details about this until later in the movie. You might show it in flashback or he might tell someone about it.

        But in either case both of those aspects of the story -- the status quo and the inciting incident, would precede the opening and would be referenced later.

        So-called "book-ended" stories are often structured this way. There are sometimes good reasons to start a story later, often to get us into the action, but also sometimes because it's the only way to introduce crucial characters or thematic elements -- so you start late and then when those elements have been introduced, however long that takes, you then move back to the chronological opening and go that that "status quo/inciting incident point."

        NMS

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        • #5
          Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

          In real life, aliens landing on earth would be one hell of an inciting incident. It's about as dramatic an event as you can imagine.

          So classic alien invasion movies classically have this as their inciting incident.

          But in Alien Nation, District 9, Starship Troopers etc. the aliens have already showed up before page 1. Their existence is part of the setting, not the plot, which involves a pair of mismatched cops trying to crack the case, or a bureaucrat stumbling on a strange canister of fluid, or some kids joining the army etc.

          In romantic comedies or dramas, the inciting incident is almost always the two leads meeting, but in something like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf or Scenes from a Marriage the couple has been married for quite some time. Being together is the status quo in their worlds, and the story we are watching is the story of those worlds being torn apart.

          Or, a little closer to what it sounds like you're talking about, In the Bedroom's inciting incident is the death of the child, but in Rabbit Hole the child is already dead, and Nicole Kidman's story starts when she encounters the driver of the car years later. Both are thematically about people trying to make peace with their loss, but the loss itself occupies a different position in the plot.

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          • #6
            Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

            Originally posted by Antero View Post
            Memento does this. Where the entire plot point is the death of the protagonist's wife, and his later memory problem. Her murder happens before the scripts begins and then he si already doing his revenge (scene order aside). We don't wait for that incident in the first 15 minutes.
            -- The Inciting Incident (II) of "Memento" happens in the opening scene where Leonard shoots Teddy. The Major Dramatic Question (MDQ) of the story becomes: Why did Leonard kill Teddy?

            The II hooks the reader/viewer, who now craves the answer to the MDQ, keeping them engrossed until the third act climax.

            The structure of "Memento" is non-linear where it goes in reverse/flashbacks, but nevertheless, the shooting of Teddy is the II of the story being presented.

            What's essential for story is a state of change in the protagonist's status quo. The II is the first crucial event in Act 1 that'll cause a change in the protagonist's status quo (existing conditions).

            The antagonist activates the majority of stories. He's the one who usually initiates the problem that upsets the protagonist's world, where the protagonist now has to ACT in order to correct it.

            To locate the true Inciting Incident in a story, yours or another writer's story, you, the general writer, need to ask yourself these questions: Who is the protagonist? What's their goal/motivation? Who or what is in their way from achieving this goal? Who or what is the antagonist? What do they desire? Why does the protagonist get in their way?

            With the answers to these questions, you should be able to figure out what the II is in a story. If the answers don't jive into a clear II, then there may be some structural problems.
            Last edited by JoeNYC; 03-23-2014, 10:05 AM.

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            • #7
              Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

              Just because the Story Problem already exists before the movie begins, this does not mean that the Inciting Incident has already occurred. Lot of movies center on Story Problems that have existed well before we join the narrative, (Star Wars for one, American Beauty for another), but just because the Story Problem exists, this does not yet mean the protagonist is motivated to get off his/her butt and do something about it. The inciting incident does not officially occur until three things have happened: 1. The Story Problem exists. 2. The Protagonist becomes aware of the Story Problem. 3. The Protagonist feels the compulsion to do something about it. To "incite" means "to urge to action." It is not really about the arrival of the Problem, but the moment something happens that causes the Protagonist to feel the need to take action against -a specific aspect- of the Problem. This action launches, and becomes the complete focus of the story spine.

              There is a danger in putting your inciting incident on page one or two. The audience needs the setup time to become acquainted with the characters and their world if they are going to both understand things and care about them when the sh*t starts hitting the fan. Some stories may put it extremely early as a teaser or attention grabber, but they then still slow things down or flash back to give a proper setup so the audience has the necessary orientation (such as that found in Memento). Without giving the time for audience orientation, you run the high risk of succumbing to what I call The Perfect Stranger Syndrome.
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              • #8
                Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to sit down with Randall Wallace on a few occasions and just talk movies and screenwriting. He was laughing when we were talking about Braveheart and how people try to break down the script with him. In his mind he did not write it thinking "There, that's the inciting incident". And, if you asked him, he wouldn't tell you what it is, because he's not sure. Is it the secret wedding? When his wife was killed? When he attacked and killed the local magistrate? When his father was killed? It goes on. Each one has its merits in the argument, he doesn't really care which one it is.

                His bottom line advice, write the best possible story you can. Don't worry about "the rules" and where they need to be in the script.
                Last edited by dave22; 03-23-2014, 04:13 PM.

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                • #9
                  Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                  The inciting incident is when his future wife gives him the flower at his father's funeral.

                  It's the earliest possible point between a story about love and a story about Scottish oppression. His wife's murder is the first act turn. Recall, until that moment he could have been a farmer. He's locked into action by his need for revenge. The dropping of the flower at his execution completes his journey.

                  IMHO.
                  life happens
                  despite a few cracked pots-
                  and random sunlight

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                  • #10
                    Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                    Lots of good, cogent arguments above. I had never thought of this issue before.

                    I am of the opinion, though, that all of this is purely argumentative and a matter of narrative perspective. In some stories everything appears to be quiet and stable, and then an inciting event comes along and disrupts things. That is the classical inciting incident. But I do not see explanatory backstory as the same thing as an inciting incident.

                    The following article on in medias res is worth reading. It supports what the others have said above (not what I said just now).

                    "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                      The Outlaw Josey Wales was on at the weekend and, similar to nmstevens Seven Samurai example, I'd say the inciting incident is when the redlegs kill Josey Wales' family at the beginning, right before the credits.

                      The story then being Josey going from killer to finding peace in himself and society again.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                        The inciting incident always happens on screen. It's a dramatic event that changes the protagonist's status quo. So, even if a dramatic event like a nuclear holocaust happened to your protagonist's world -- before page 1 -- that would not be the inciting incident, instead the backstory, because the post nuclear holocaust world would now be the status quo for your protag. Something else, like sending a soldier back in time to prevent nuclear war, would be your inciting incident.

                        Anything that happens before page 1 defines the ordinary world of your story -- no matter how extraordinary that is.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                          Originally posted by Antero View Post

                          My question comes beacuse I don't have an inciting incident. Or better said, I have it as backstory. Can this be a problem or is just another rule myth that can be cheated?
                          The only rule in storytelling is there are no rules.

                          Wait there is one...tell a good story.

                          If your story is not working then that problems lies within the screenplay not any incident that happened before page 1.
                          Sincerly,

                          the giantELF

                          (The writer is Robert -- the company is giantELF)

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                          • #14
                            Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                            Originally posted by Ven View Post
                            The inciting incident always happens on screen. It's a dramatic event that changes the protagonist's status quo. So, even if a dramatic event like a nuclear holocaust happened to your protagonist's world -- before page 1 -- that would not be the inciting incident, instead the backstory, because the post nuclear holocaust world would now be the status quo for your protag. Something else, like sending a soldier back in time to prevent nuclear war, would be your inciting incident.

                            Anything that happens before page 1 defines the ordinary world of your story -- no matter how extraordinary that is.
                            That's just not always the case.

                            You have to distinguish between the "chronological" events of the story and the way the story is presented on screen (or on the page, since that's what we're talking about).

                            Take a movie like Thief of Baghdad.

                            It opens with a blind beggar singing on a dock in the company of his dog. A mysterious Princess finds him and takes him to her house where he's taken to the harem of the Master of the house.

                            And we're shown a villainous character, a strange woman lying asleep in a trance, learn of a mysterious relationship between the two -- that's why he's being brought there.

                            At that point, the beggar tells the women of the harem a story about a Great Prince and the misfortunes that befell him.

                            Then we have an extended flashback and we find out that he was the Great Prince and at that time the dog was actually a young boy -- the Thief of Baghdad.

                            It's only when we get back into this flashback that we get to the inciting incident because it's only then that we find the "normal lives" of both the prince and the thief and what the various events are that push them loose and send them onto the trajectory of the story.

                            All of that happens before "page one" of the story, literally. It comes afterward, chronologically.

                            And there are good story reasons for doing that. There are critical character and story elements in Thief of Baghdad. The Thief. The Prince. The evil Jaffar. And the Princess that both the Prince and Jaffar love.

                            But if you were to tell the story chronologically, the Princess wouldn't show up, and that critical story element wouldn't appear until well into Act Two (or else you'd have a monumentally distended Act One).

                            In structural terms, that's not acceptable. Those key character and story elements have to be laid out in Act One.

                            In order to do that, they shift the chronology around -- and that means that the inciting incident is likewise shifted. We start the movie already underway, long after the "status quo" of the main characters would normally have been established, long after the inciting incident would have broken that status quo -- and then we go back and catch up.

                            Now, you can always force any paradigm on anything if you really want to -- you can say -- "oh, well, the status quo for the beggar was sitting on the docks begging and then the inciting incident was the mysterious princess coming along and bringing him to the palace." But the reality is, in the large scale telling of that story, that's just not the case.

                            Arranged in their proper chronological order, we can clearly see what the status quo is and what the inciting incident is.

                            They've just shifted the order of events around for dramatic purposes.

                            And that really isn't unusual.

                            NMS

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                            • #15
                              Re: Inciting Incident before the story begins?

                              Over on scriptshadow, there was a little debate on where the inciting incident of Jaws occurs.

                              Some said it's when the shark kills Crissy. Happens on page 1 or 2. Bam! Dead girl. Our story is off and running. Brody goes into action. Every event that follows is a direct response to that early act.

                              Others (myself included) felt that a major moment on Page 1 is actually establishing the world, and cannot be the inciting incident. In Jaws, the "world" is "a resort town with a shark problem." Sure, that world only came into existence on Page 1, but this will be the world of the story. Brody, then, goes on his regular routine - keep the public safe. He closes the beaches.

                              The inciting incident is when the Mayor tells him that he can't close the beaches. The first half of the movie is a chess match between Brody and the Mayor.

                              But the important thing to remember is that this is all academic. If a group of screenwriters can't agree on the inciting incident of Jaws, then does it really matter where it is? It's a great movie either way.

                              Tell a good story and the pieces will fall in place.

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