What's essential for story is a state of change in the protagonist's status quo. The Inciting Incident is the first crucial event in Act 1 that'll cause a change in the protagonist's status quo (existing conditions), either at that moment or later on if the protagonist wasn't at the scene when the I.I. happened.
You may hear different names (terms) expressed for this first significant event by different gurus and teachers, which may cause confusion:
McKee calls it: Inciting Incident
Seger calls it: Catalyst
Mamet calls it: Disordering Event
Cambell calls it: Call to Action/Adventure
And there are other terms, such as, Triggering Event.
When you hear these different terms, don't be confused. They all mean the same thing: The first crucial event (plot point) in Act 1 that'll cause a change in the protagonist's status quo.
I'm going to use the term Inciting Incident since this is the term that's used the most.
The Inciting Incident triggers the central problem, thereby launching the story and giving the audience their first glimpse of what the story is going to be about.
It's this problem that'll ULTIMATELY make the protagonist act, struggling through the remainder of the story in an effort to get a handle on the problem. The protagonist may go on this journey willingly or with uncertainty, but either way, he or she is going -- or you won't have a story.
The Inciting Incident hooks the viewer/reader, who now craves the answer to the Major Dramatic Question (MDQ), keeping them engrossed until the third act climax.
An example: "Witness"
Inciting Incident: An Amish boy witnesses a murder in a train station bathroom.
MDQ: Will the Detective (protagonist) find the killers and bring them to justice?
The antagonist activates the majority of stories. He's the one who usually initiates the problem that upsets the protagonist's world, where the protagonist now has to ACT in order to correct it.
To locate the Inciting Incident in a story you need to ask yourself these questions: Who is the protagonist? What's their goal/motivation? Who or what is in their way from achieving this goal? Who or what is the antagonist? What do they desire? Why does the protagonist get in their way?
With the answers to these questions, you should be able to figure out what the Inciting Incident is in a story. If the answers don't jive into a clear I.I., then there may be structural problems.
Sometimes an Inciting Incident needs two events because the protagonist wasn't at the scene when the initial incident occurs.
For an example of a two-part Inciting Incident we'll use "Witness":
An Amish boy witnessing a murder in a train station bathroom stirs up the story and when the Amish boy points out to the Detective that the murderer is one of his own, this incites the protagonist (Detective) to take action. This causes conflict, which causes an entertaining and compelling story.
Usually the Inciting Incident will affect the story and protagonist at the same time, but when it doesn't, the Inciting Incident will need two events in order to be completed: An event that stirs up the story, and then an event where the protagonist's course converges with the earlier story incident.
Some writers don't agree with the two-part (two events) I.I. They feel the I.I. acts like a domino effect and will eventually cross paths with the hero, which would make him act.
This opinion is fine.
The idea behind the two-part II is a structural tool to make sure the writer knows that the II isn't completed until the protagonist is affected and takes -- ACTION.
Otherwise, if he doesn't cross paths with the earlier story incident, he doesn't take action and it would be a very boring story.
McKee gave an example of this with Mel Gibson's "The River."
The story incident happened in the first act, but it wasn't completed, where it affected Mel's character, until the third act. This made for a boring movie where Mel went on with his everyday duties, oblivious to the earlier story incident until the story was almost over.
As for the placement of the Inciting Incident, there is no rule concerning what minute or time the story should start. The incident could happen on the very first page or toward the end of Act 1. It all depends on your story and what works.
(After thousands of years of observations of what works and what doesn't, it's been determined that the II is most effective when located in the first act.)
Studio executives like to see the writer get into the story within the first 10 pages (10 minutes) because they fear the audience will become bored, but this is geared more toward mainstream, commercial stories.
You will notice that in the majority of commercial stories, somewhere between page 1 and 10 an incident is going to occur that'll get the plot in motion, where the audience will now know what the story is about and the spine of the plot.
Remember though, it's whatever works for your story. If your story needs the I.I. to happen after 10 pages, fine, but I'd strongly suggest you have an entertaining subplot going on before then to hold the audience's attention until the main plot kicks in.
For example, with the movie "Rocky" the first half of the I.I. kicks the main story in motion at the end of Act 1, around page 30, where Apollo decides to give an unknown a shot to fight the world champion. (The end of Act 1 plot point does double duty: II and major turning point.)
The II is completed in Act 2 around page 55, when Apollo offers the shot to Rocky.
So, the II in "Rocky" doesn't happen -- a commercial movie -- until well after 10 pages, but there are a couple of subplots (his strong arm job and romancing Adrian) going on until then to hold the audience's attention.
But, yes, the "Rocky" situation is a rare case. With most commercial movies the II will happen within the first 10-15 pages.
Artistic movies usually take longer to set up, so it's not surprising when the I.I. happens after 10 pages.
For example, with the "Kiss of the Spider Woman" the I.I. doesn't happen until toward the end of Act 1.
You can express an Inciting Incident through action, dialogue or situations.
Examples:
Through action (This is the strongest way to get the problem across.): In the movie "Italian Job" the antagonist kills Donald Sutherland's character and swipes the gold.
Through dialogue: Indiana Jones is told that his father has vanished.
Through situations: In the movie "Tootsie" there's a series of situations over the first act that expresses to us the protagonist's problem of struggling to find work.
You may hear different names (terms) expressed for this first significant event by different gurus and teachers, which may cause confusion:
McKee calls it: Inciting Incident
Seger calls it: Catalyst
Mamet calls it: Disordering Event
Cambell calls it: Call to Action/Adventure
And there are other terms, such as, Triggering Event.
When you hear these different terms, don't be confused. They all mean the same thing: The first crucial event (plot point) in Act 1 that'll cause a change in the protagonist's status quo.
I'm going to use the term Inciting Incident since this is the term that's used the most.
The Inciting Incident triggers the central problem, thereby launching the story and giving the audience their first glimpse of what the story is going to be about.
It's this problem that'll ULTIMATELY make the protagonist act, struggling through the remainder of the story in an effort to get a handle on the problem. The protagonist may go on this journey willingly or with uncertainty, but either way, he or she is going -- or you won't have a story.
The Inciting Incident hooks the viewer/reader, who now craves the answer to the Major Dramatic Question (MDQ), keeping them engrossed until the third act climax.
An example: "Witness"
Inciting Incident: An Amish boy witnesses a murder in a train station bathroom.
MDQ: Will the Detective (protagonist) find the killers and bring them to justice?
The antagonist activates the majority of stories. He's the one who usually initiates the problem that upsets the protagonist's world, where the protagonist now has to ACT in order to correct it.
To locate the Inciting Incident in a story you need to ask yourself these questions: Who is the protagonist? What's their goal/motivation? Who or what is in their way from achieving this goal? Who or what is the antagonist? What do they desire? Why does the protagonist get in their way?
With the answers to these questions, you should be able to figure out what the Inciting Incident is in a story. If the answers don't jive into a clear I.I., then there may be structural problems.
Sometimes an Inciting Incident needs two events because the protagonist wasn't at the scene when the initial incident occurs.
For an example of a two-part Inciting Incident we'll use "Witness":
An Amish boy witnessing a murder in a train station bathroom stirs up the story and when the Amish boy points out to the Detective that the murderer is one of his own, this incites the protagonist (Detective) to take action. This causes conflict, which causes an entertaining and compelling story.
Usually the Inciting Incident will affect the story and protagonist at the same time, but when it doesn't, the Inciting Incident will need two events in order to be completed: An event that stirs up the story, and then an event where the protagonist's course converges with the earlier story incident.
Some writers don't agree with the two-part (two events) I.I. They feel the I.I. acts like a domino effect and will eventually cross paths with the hero, which would make him act.
This opinion is fine.
The idea behind the two-part II is a structural tool to make sure the writer knows that the II isn't completed until the protagonist is affected and takes -- ACTION.
Otherwise, if he doesn't cross paths with the earlier story incident, he doesn't take action and it would be a very boring story.
McKee gave an example of this with Mel Gibson's "The River."
The story incident happened in the first act, but it wasn't completed, where it affected Mel's character, until the third act. This made for a boring movie where Mel went on with his everyday duties, oblivious to the earlier story incident until the story was almost over.
As for the placement of the Inciting Incident, there is no rule concerning what minute or time the story should start. The incident could happen on the very first page or toward the end of Act 1. It all depends on your story and what works.
(After thousands of years of observations of what works and what doesn't, it's been determined that the II is most effective when located in the first act.)
Studio executives like to see the writer get into the story within the first 10 pages (10 minutes) because they fear the audience will become bored, but this is geared more toward mainstream, commercial stories.
You will notice that in the majority of commercial stories, somewhere between page 1 and 10 an incident is going to occur that'll get the plot in motion, where the audience will now know what the story is about and the spine of the plot.
Remember though, it's whatever works for your story. If your story needs the I.I. to happen after 10 pages, fine, but I'd strongly suggest you have an entertaining subplot going on before then to hold the audience's attention until the main plot kicks in.
For example, with the movie "Rocky" the first half of the I.I. kicks the main story in motion at the end of Act 1, around page 30, where Apollo decides to give an unknown a shot to fight the world champion. (The end of Act 1 plot point does double duty: II and major turning point.)
The II is completed in Act 2 around page 55, when Apollo offers the shot to Rocky.
So, the II in "Rocky" doesn't happen -- a commercial movie -- until well after 10 pages, but there are a couple of subplots (his strong arm job and romancing Adrian) going on until then to hold the audience's attention.
But, yes, the "Rocky" situation is a rare case. With most commercial movies the II will happen within the first 10-15 pages.
Artistic movies usually take longer to set up, so it's not surprising when the I.I. happens after 10 pages.
For example, with the "Kiss of the Spider Woman" the I.I. doesn't happen until toward the end of Act 1.
You can express an Inciting Incident through action, dialogue or situations.
Examples:
Through action (This is the strongest way to get the problem across.): In the movie "Italian Job" the antagonist kills Donald Sutherland's character and swipes the gold.
Through dialogue: Indiana Jones is told that his father has vanished.
Through situations: In the movie "Tootsie" there's a series of situations over the first act that expresses to us the protagonist's problem of struggling to find work.
