The Inciting and Key Events

 

THE FIRST QUARTER of your story is going to hinge upon two important and irreversible moments: the Inciting Event and the Key Event—both of which directly influence (and/or sometimes are) the First Plot Point. The Inciting Event sets the plot in motion, while the Key Event draws the protagonist into the plot.

The Inciting Event is the moment when the story “officially” begins. But the Key Event is when the character becomes engaged by the Inciting Event.

 

Examples:

• Inciting Event: Brigid hires Spade’s partner. Key Event: Spade’s partner is killed and Spade is suspected. (The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett)

 

• Inciting Event: An unconscious Bourne is fished out of the ocean. Key Event: Someone tries to kill him. (The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum)

 

• Inciting Event: Marilla and Matthew decide to adopt an orphan boy. Key Event: They commit to keeping the orphan, even though she’s a girl. (Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery)

 

The Inciting Event and the Key Event can both take place anywhere within the First Act, but it’s often smart to place the Inciting Event halfway through the First Act and place the Key Event at the First Plot Point, since this is the moment where the character has to move irrevocably away from the Normal World you’ve established for him in the First Act. Remember that the Inciting Event will always precede the Key Event.

 

Exercise: Answer the following questions about your Inciting and Key Events.

 

Question #1: What event sets your plot in motion? (This is your Inciting Event.)

 

Question #2: What event involves your protagonist in the plot? (This is Your Key Event.)

 

Question #3: What major event changes your story’s focus at the end of the First Act? (This is your First Plot Point. Note: This answer may be the same as that for your Key Event above.)

 

Question #3.1: In response to this event, what life-altering decision does your character make that he can’t turn back from?

 

Examples:

• Jane Eyre decides to accept a position as governess at Thornfield. (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

 

• George Bailey decides to take his father’s place as head of the Building & Loan. (It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra)

 

Question #4: At what point does your character leave his “normal world”?

 

Question #4.1: What new world does he enter?

 

Question #4.2: If he remains in the same setting, how does it change around him?

 

 

Examples:

• Luke Skywalker leaves Tatooine. (Star Wars: A New Hope directed by George Lucas)

 

• Boo enters the monster world, changing it to a place of chaos and paranoia. (Monsters, Inc. directed by Pete Docter)

 

Subplot Exercise: Identify how the first plot point will affect each of your subplots.

 

Foreshadowing Exercise: Answer the following questions. (If you don’t remember what “heavy” and “light” foreshadowing are, refer to the Foreshadowing section in Chapter 2.)

 

Question #1: How and where in earlier chapters have you heavily foreshadowed your First Plot Point?

 

Question #2: How have you lightly foreshadowed the First Plot Point right before it occurred?

 

Reference: Structuring Your Novel, chapter 6, pages 81-86.