Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t: Why That Is And What You Can Do About It

The Inciting Incident is the event that makes the story start. It may come anywhere between Minute One and Minute Twenty-Five. But it must happen somewhere within Act One.

How do we form ourselves? By what means do we discover who we are? The answer for us is the same as it is for characters in fiction. We discover who we are by what we say and what we do. We uncover our nature through action.

It’s easy to get a lousy idea on demand. It’s not that hard to come up with a mediocre idea. But a good idea?

If there is a single principle that is indispensable to structuring any kind of narrative, it is this: Break the piece into three parts—beginning, middle, and end.

Ask not, “What is the solution?” Ask, “What is the problem?”

“Thou shalt not take the climax out of the hands of the protagonist.”

5. Hero crosses Threshold, enters Special World. 6) Hero encounters enemies and allies, undergoes ordeal that will serve as his Initiation. 7) Hero confronts Villain, acquires Treasure. 8) The Road Back. Hero escapes Special World, trying to “get home.” 9) Villains pursue Hero. Hero must fight/escape again. 10) Hero returns home with Treasure, reinteg

Here’s one principle that has helped me: Narrative device must work on-theme.

If your Climax is not embedded in your Inciting Incident, you don’t have an Inciting Incident.