Not too long ago, I had an interesting conversation with another children’s writer regarding pacing. She had just read a how-to writing book and was convinced that the Inciting Incident or The First Doorway or First Plot Point, or whatever you call it, should happen as close to the first page as possible. The First Page!
What happened to the Ordinary World? The Set Up?
This writer suggested a list of books as examples, and, indeed, there were a lot of exciting things going on in those first pages, and often first paragraphs.
However, I don’t think times are a changin’ so much as I think she was confusing the idea of an opening or initial conflict with the First Plot Point. When I suggested this, she assured me that she wasn’t confusing the ideas, but that times really were changing.
Hmm.
Maybe it’s in the name. If you use the term “Inciting Incident” the very name could suggest to you the first scene. I prefer Larry Brook’s use of the term First Plot Point. And he has convinced me that yes, where this occurs in my story is very important. And it’s not in the first chapter.
In fact, in his guest post on Tuesday Larry referred to this First Plot Point as the single most important moment in your story. He teaches that all the writing leading up to this point should be focused on creating reader empathy for your characters.
That emotional investment is the single, most critical variable that makes your story work. Or not.
Now, it is very tempting to move this moment a little closer to the beginning of your novel. Say, before the end of the third chapter because if an agent asks for a partial, she’ll ask for the first three chapters. You’d like an agent to find out about the exciting big change before he or she makes a decision about your work, right?
Wrong. You want them to care about your characters. They don’t need to read the First Plot Point to care about your characters. You don’t have to rush the story.
I like how James Scott Bell in Revision & Self Editing, suggests giving your character two problems. A personal problem at the beginning (yes, this can go on page one) and a plot problem that kicks in when you hit the First Plot Point.
That way you get the best of both worlds. You can start your story off with a nice conflict, yet still do all the empathy-creating set up for your character before you hit your reader with the main conflict.
Any thoughts? Do you think there is pressure to move up the inciting incident? If so, is this only in children’s work or other genres?
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Save the Cat says the first plot point or catalyst or inciting incident should happen close to the end of the first act. I think writers get confused with a lot of industry blogs that say you must introduce the story conflict early and maybe spend about a paragraph or so with set up. I think that’s more about introducing some kind of initial conflict rather than the first plot point.
Thank you so much for writing this! I can’t tell you how much I needed to hear this. There are plenty of books that work just going straight into the plot, but I tend to write the build-up and the ‘get to know the characters.’ If their normal life is going to be ripped away from them, it’s nice to know why I should care.
You guys reminded me of something else. The hook. I don’t know what else Larry has planned for his guest blogs, so he may get to this, but he has a nice list of eight(?) points that need to be addressed in that initial set up BEFORE the First Plot Point. The dramatic hook, being one of them.
In screenwriting, the inciting incident is most reliably on page 10 of a 120-page script. It sets the events in motion, and would be meaningless if you do not have some familiarity with your protagonist and his/her world to know that this incident is going to change both.
Thanks for noting that, Heather. Screenwriting seems to have stricter “rules” than novel writing, but having those rules really help organize the plot.
I think the biggest problem is that at some point the nth person writing a how-to book said to themselves, I’m going to rename some of these plot points because either I have a better name for them or I want my book to be remembered. The catalyst and inciting incident and “disturbance” are all the same point – very early on in the story. The first MAJOR plot point is Turning Point 1 in most 3-act structure books, and that is about 1/4 of the way through the story. So the inciting incident and turning point 1 are not at all the same plot point – but many people get the terms confused. I’ve even heard people in screenwriting classes arguing with the teacher. I agree, Shonna, very frustrating.
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