Inciting Incident MISTAKES New Writers Make ❌ avoid these cliches!

A well-written inciting incident can capture our attention, stoke our curiosity, and pull us right into the story... But inciting incidents are also easy to mess up. If you write this pivotal moment the wrong way, you’re in danger of boring your reader and losing their interest before they even get to the good stuff. That's why, in this video, I’m sharing the DO’s and DON’Ts of inciting incidents — common mistakes that I see a lot of writers make and how to avoid these pitfalls so that you can hook your readers immediately, make them care about your characters, and hold their attention for the rest of the story.

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✨ C H A P T E R S ✨
00:00 How to write a great inciting incident?
01:56 DON’T make the stakes the same for everyone
04:03 DON’T wait too long to make the inciting incident happen
05:24 DON’T make the conflict too easily resolved
06:42 Want to take your inciting incident to the next level?
08:43 DO make your inciting incident unique to your protagonist
10:09 DO make it happen as soon as possible
11:15 DO let your inciting incident trigger more conflict
12:50 Save your spot at the live training!
13:33 What’s your favorite inciting incident?
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✨ V A L U A B L E R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT WHEN YOU’RE BORED

→ THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER PROFILE

→ WRITERS REACT TO WRITERS IN MOVIES

→ MY CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER OUTLINING METHOD

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[AbbieEmmons]

What is your favorite example of a great inciting incident? 👇💬

[chalonhutson]

"It's never too soon to push your character outside of their comfort zone." <- top tier writing advice

[stikfamaster]

Pro-tip: whenever characters make future plans, especially in the middle of tge story, that character will usually die

[Mis_Molly]

I love how all these writers are telling me that im doing the right thing in my story cause its my first book and im 14

[kcmisulis]

I"m currently editing and after hearing that "Don't let the inciting incident be dangerous for anyone but the protagonist" I realise that's exactly what I needed to do, and I went back to brainstorm the inciting incident. It's now crazy more powerful, and the stakes are far lower. And I LOVE that. Thank you for the inspiration.

[ArttseLlac]

As a murder mystery writer, I thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤ This is a lifesaver Abbie!

[nateizu]

I’ve stumbled upon your channel at the perfect time. I’m about 70 percent done with my book. My story has the clunky foundation and solid plot points needed for any book, but man am I excited to go over it again and polish it up.

[seanstamler]

Hi Abbie! I’m currently reading your book, 100 Days of Summer. For context I’m a 30 yo male and it would not be the normal type of book that I would read, but I want to compare your writing to your advice and see how it effected your story. I had been in a loop of constantly editing and rewriting the science fiction series I’ve been working on and your videos as of late really helped me! To the point where I finally asked my mom and some of my friends/ sister’s husband to be my beta editors for the first book in the series. Thank you so much for your advice! It really means a lot to someone like me, a little too shy and unsure to even try and publish the book before. Oh and by the way, your book is really cute. I love it! I’m assuming Tessa and you have a lot of similarities haha.

[justClaya]

I think the inciting incident happening as soon as possible really can vary from book to book. For example, for my character in my novel, I have to show what her daily life looks like (very chaotic, reckless, and unstructured, ) for her inciting incident to mean anything. If I had the main inciting incident happen in chapter one it would be boring because you wouldn’t understand why it means anything to my character. I have about 3 chapters of set up that make the inciting incident the most it can be, while still keeping those three chapters relevant to the plot and exciting to read. Execution is key, guys.

[happybirthdaypaulie]

Once again, you’ve uploaded a video advising on the exact struggle I’m going through. I don’t know how you got access to my Google Docs but please let me know what you think of my screenplay next time you’re in it.

[Lou-uo]

I’ve already written my inciting incident and when I saw this I knew I needed to watch it to make sure I had done it right! Luckily it seems I have thank you for this video Abbie

[oliverlockhart]

My favorite inciting incident is in The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang when the MC learns in the very first scene that she is to be married off to a merchant by her foster parents, and she does everything in her power to escape it.

[Axolotllova]

I’m just barely past my inciting incident right now.I started watching your channel and my story changed. My story started with the main characters too late making them side characters. My second version went so fast it could only end up with 150 pages at the max. I am making the conflict so that you are curious for a chapter and the next one everything unravels. I love watching your videos and imaging what my plot structure would look like and if it seems smooth. It helps me understand things and what actually would make me interested in reading it. I went from getting bored of my book and it being something I wouldn’t read to me wanting to read more.(even though I know what happens next)

[pra]

My protagonist's first introduction is waking up in the middle of the street without her memories. She believes she must retrieve them and makes that her goal, but she ends up getting involved in magical shenanigans and that goal slowly shifts.

I don't know if that counts as an inciting incident, but there are stakes and it triggers her inner conflict, so I guess it does?

[sctan]

I was just writing the start of my new story and thinking about whether my inciting incident was "good" enough. Abbie is psychic😂

[Al-rnqy]

Great advice Abbie. The inciting incident truly is the difference between a meh story and a wow story. Please make more gems like these.😄

[neofulcrum]

I pretty much put my inciting incident at the end of chapter one.

[TonBil]

Yesterday, I saw the movie Meet Joe Black. I loved how a couple of 'serious incidents' occurred (a heart attack, speaking with Death, a flirtation, a lethal accident) in the first scenes. But then: Protagonist X sees Antagonist Y at an unexpected place and time, and THAT sets the story of. It's a clever film, I liked it. (Anthony Hopkins playing another great role.)

[ariannasstudio]

I LOVEEE writers life Wednesdays!! Looking forward to this vid bc I always end up stuck on the inciting incident…hoping this one will give me insight into what it should look like with my screenplay!

[rachelledellavecchia]

I paused my novel to write some prequel novella's. I wrote is more like a pantser and I'm on to chapter six already and I still didn't figure out the inciting incident. Thanks for the thought provoking questions. It helped me clarify what I need to do now. Thankfully I don't have to ditch the 13k + words I already wrote but it will be something that happens before that I can put in my prologue that pushes my character to make the decision to move back to Shanghai form Paris where she'll end up being forced by her family into a business based marriage.