

Inciting incidents for comediesįor comedies, the inciting incident should be something unexpected and humorous, like a misunderstanding or an unlikely set of circumstances that leads to an awkward situation for your character. They should feel like they're living the story alongside your protagonist from the very beginning. The goal of this type of inciting incident is to get your readers invested in your characters' emotions right away. It could be a death, a betrayal, or even just an unexpected event that throws their life off course. Inciting incidents for dramas and romancesįor dramas and romances, the inciting incident should be something that puts your protagonist in an emotionally charged situation. Different kinds of inciting incidents for different types of storiesĮvery story should have a different kind of inciting moment that works for their story type. This plot point is what starts the story's conflict and forces your protagonist out of their comfort zone. The Inciting incident sets the tone and direction of a story, so it should be something surprising or unexpected for your audience. Inciting incident definition: the event that establishes the main character or characters on their path and takes them through the narrative. Read until the end to get some examples of my favorite inciting incidents from famous stories.

In this article, we'll go over some qualities that make a good inciting incident and how you can use them to create an engaging first act for your story. The goal of an inciting incident is to startle readers out of their comfort zone. It should be dramatic, and you want it to capture your readers' attention from the very beginning of your book. An inciting incident is the key event that sets the story in motion.
