Inciting Incident

 

The Inciting Incident is some kind of event that occurs and upsets the balance of your protagonist’s life. It's usually something unexpected that makes it impossible for your protagonist to continue living their life the way they’ve always done. This is the same thing as the Call to Adventure in the Hero's Journey, but I prefer this term. It’s what sets your story in motion and gives rise to your protagonist’s overarching story goal.

When does it happen?

Generally halfway through the first act of your story. You need to first properly introduce your characters so the audience feels invested in their story. 

Examples:

We'll move from simple to more complex in these examples.

• Rom-Com: They meet/see/bump into their future love.
• Murder Mystery: A body has been discovered!
• The Hunger Games: Prim, Katniss' younger sister, is chosen.
• Dead Poets Society: Mr. Keating tells them to "Seize the day!".
• Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone: When Hagrid shows up and tells him he's a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts.
• Fight Club: The narrator comes home to find his apartment has been blown up.