Question

What is an inciting incident.

Answer 1

Inciting comes from the Latin word incitare which means “to put into rapid motion, urge, encourage, and stimulate.” And that’s exactly what your inciting incident is: it’s an event that catalyzes your hero to “go into motion” and take action.

Here are other ways to conceptualize the inciting incident:


it jolts your hero out of his everyday routine
it is the event which sparks the fuse of your plot
it’s something that MUST happen in order for your hook–your movie’s special premise–to kick in