Inciting Incidents and Keswick

A new story demands thought about the Inciting Incident. A story can be divided into rough blocks, called The Inciting Incident, Progressive Complications, Crisis, Climax and Resolution. It’s good to remember that the Inciting Incident (II from now on) must be relevant to the character and directs what is about to happen to him/her. It should not be some dramatic event that is simply witnessed. (That may be where I made my mistake in a romance I’m struggling with now. Sigh.) The II should not happen in back story.

So – the II upsets the protagonist’s life, puts forces out of whack, and the protagonist must respond. Usually he focuses on doing something to bring the balance back to normal, or the way he wants it to be. This sets him off on a quest to gain what he wants against the forces of antagonism, which may be inner and personal or outer and extra-personal. Sometimes, he refuses to respond, and reacts by inaction, and that too causes or brings about reaction. In decided what to do (or not to do) the protagonist should reveal some long held dream or unconscious desire, and the reader should pick up on it. The Spine of the Story, the long arc that carries through the entire story, has its birth in the II. The Bond films were an example – the arch villain made a move that upset the status quo, and Bond’s focus was to defeat him. Until recently, Bond never had an unconscious desire, but with the Daniel Craig stories, he has, and that is to revenge Vesper’s death. Sometimes the unconscious desire becomes the story spine, or merges very closely with the major story, and then makes for a more complex hero and story arc.

We’ve had four days of glorious weather, and the pictures are from a trip to Keswick on Friday.

Inciting Incidents

The inciting incident is the reason for everything that follows, so it needs to be well thought out. I used to be guilty of writing an attention-grabbing first page that would hopefully catch an agent’s eye. It never occurred to me that I hadn’t given a moment’s thought to how the rest of the story was going to flow from it. Now I find my first page incident has to work extra hard and be the springboard for the rest of the story.

It’s probably true that most authors first start writing in a haphazard way. In my first attempts, I used to think what would I do if…..Then I discovered that wasn’t anything like enough. What I should have been thinking was what would this character do if he’s in open country and hounds chase him…

Sometimes what happens is less important than how, to whom and why it happens. There should be insight, too, or else nothing is learned or gained. Actions cause Reaction, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Insights can come swiftly, or take their own sweet time. But however long the pause, there has to be a renewed action from the hero, which in turn often elicits a surprising reaction. This sequence of Action/Reaction builds into a Turning Point, and the reader should be empathising with the protagonist every step of the way as he nears his goal.

Disaster

The Fatal Bogs Disaster of 1910 (Prudhoe Heritage collection)
Cottages near West Wylam Colliery were demolished by falling trees as heavy rain washed away the bankside. Men returned from work to discover that they had lost their families and their homes.
This is a piece of local history I didn't know about and I want to find out more. I think I know the place but I'd like to be sure, and if I am right, there's only a roundabout at the bottom where water still pours down the hillside in heavy rain.
Little things like this can spark an idea for someone who writes. The finished story may not be about the West Wylam community, but the incident will be woven in somehow. It may be the inciting incident , the thing that starts a series of changes in a story that tells what happens to those men, the few survivors, when all the helpers have gone home and the water is still pouring down the hillside.