The Inciting Event and the Problem

Hey Musers!

Thank you for coming back to read a second post!

I have decided to focus my first grouping of posts around the essential beats and/or plot points found in all stories.

I may not cover every single structural beat, because no one can ever truly come to a consensus of the exact number of beats in a story. Different gurus will have differing ideas on the number of beats, etc.etc…

Generally speaking, though, there is a consensus about the basic beats and/or elements that all stories use.

A couple of posts might focus more around elements of story too, so not everything is strictly a beat (so you beat cops, don’t come after me…a little procedural humor). 😉

So, without much further ado…let’s get into this…

The Inciting Event —-

You probably will recognize this event even if you aren’t familiar with the terminology.

That bombing at the start of the film. The kidnapping and ransom of a major political figure. A weather anomaly crops up on the radar of one lone scientist…A studio exec comes in to try to reboot a successful NBCUniversal tv series (yes, that’s the pilot of 30 Rock which we will look at later!)

We call the event that sets the story in motion – the Inciting Event.

98.9999999% of the time, the Inciting Event will be an external event that sets off the story AND creates a Problem or Dilemma in its wake (…and “Piper noooo!”…I’m not talking about a “tsunamiiii!”🌊😆!)

Credit: Image courtesy of HBO/The White Lotus

Come to think of it, a tsunami could be an inciting event too…

You see, the Inciting Event is an external event that happens to the protagonist and it most certainly ALWAYS creates a Problem or Dilemma that MUST be dealt with. The Problem MUST be addressed by the protagonist(s) by the end of the story.

Another way to think of an Inciting Event is an event outside of the protagonist’s control or something external that happens in the protagonist’s life; to them or to their world that turns it upside down.

Usually the Inciting Event is significant enough to have shifted the protagonist’s world in some way. They simply cannot go back to status quo.

This is generally not something the protagonist creates or does themselves. They are usually reacting to this event.

In film and books, the Inciting Event is pretty easy to spot as it’s the event that sets the story in motion. This is due to the nature of storytelling in film which is meant to be viewed in a single sitting (notwithstanding sequels, of course).

TBF each film has its own inciting event even in sequels because each new film has a beginning, middle, and end. And anything with these things is the definition of a story.

And every story has an Inciting Event.

Just note that in film, the Inciting Event might not just stop at that obvious, external event. It oftentimes is not quite as MAJOR of an event.

You might see a compounded inciting event, or a two-parter inciting event, because it’s better if we can actually see how the external event upends the protagonist’s life specifically…so we might view it in stages (but all interrelated).

Sometimes the two are one in the same, but just note that a STRONG Inciting Event MUST CREATE A VERY SPECIFIC PROBLEM.

In TV an inciting event can be a little more complicated.

TWO TYPES OF INCITING EVENTS

In episodic stories and television, there can be two kinds of inciting events and this is because the nature of storytelling in episodic stories is to often have multiple storylines interweaving, depending on how arc’ing the series is.

CLOSED END VS ARC’ING

Mini-primer for those who don’t know, but most tv shows are comprised of either closed-ended series that have a resolution for each episode vs shows that use extensive arc’ing (and everything in between).

When the storylines continue through multiple episodes, it is called an arc or arc’ing series.

These days more and more tv shows are hybrid shows, so they often have a combination of both of these aspects, an element of the story that is closed-off (ends in that episode), but depending on how advanced, there may also be arc’ing elements (storylines that continue through episodes).

Shows on premium cable usually are examples of mostly arc’ing series, because they focus on heavily arc’ing material and complex interwoven storylines.

It’s not always as cut and dry is this, so maybe I’ll do a future post on this topic.

But… back to the Inciting Event —-

In TV, for instance, you can have a Series Inciting Event, or the event that sets off the series (sets up the world, etc.etc…), as well as an Episodic Inciting Event, something that causes the specific episode to get under way.

These are often quite different, but in some instances, they could be the same thing or so close as to be nearly indistinguishable.

The pilot will usually have both, but then every episode has its own specific episodic inciting event that drives the problem of that episode as well.

Think of it this way, the series creates a Problem or long-term Goal for the season, but in many closed episodic, hybrid series, and even in some mostly arc’ing series, there is also a smaller (episodic) goal in every episode that needs to be completed to get the protagonist closer to the long-term goal, with varying levels of interconnectivity on the arc’ing aspect of storylines.

Wheew. That was A LOT to digest (speaking of digestion, who else could use some snacks right about now 🧀 ??!)

Credit: GIF NBCUniversal/Peacock 30 Rock

And since we’re on the subject of 30 Rock (sort of), let’s look at the Inciting Event from the 30 Rock pilot.

Credit: Image courtesy of NBCUniversal/ 30 Rock “Pilot”

The Inciting Event of the pilot of 30 Rock is the fact that Jack Donaghy has taken over as VP of Development with NBC/GE/Universal/K-mart (😆) and wants to reboot The Girlie Show. He tells this to Liz Lemon (head writer of The Girlie Show) and her producer, Pete Hornberger, in his office.

This is an external event out of anyone’s control. Liz has no control of Jack becoming her boss. The Girlie Show also has no choice whether to have a new executive/VP of Development.

I would call this the Series Inciting Event.

Note that unto itself, these events don’t create a Problem (remember we need to get at the heart of the Inciting Event to find out what the true Problem is, so perhaps this was just the Series Inciting Event).

Minutes later, Jack states that he wants to bring Tracy Jordan in to reboot (theoretically save) The Girlie Show.

DING DING DING.

This is basically the Episodic Inciting Event and the Problem of the episode all rolled up into one (you might also look at it as if this is really the Problem (and the Inciting Events are so interlinked that they really are the same thing), but I think the fact that Jack has been brought on to retool the show, while finding someone to bring in more male viewers is the Episodic Inciting Event and then the Problem, very specifically IS rebooting the show with Tracy Jordan, in that order).

So there is a level of interconnectivity in the succession of these announcements, and quite a bit of overlapping, but just remember that you know you have the correct Inciting Event of the episode when you can identify a very specific Problem it has created. And if you can’t identity a Problem from the Inciting Event that specifically affects the protagonist, then you haven’t quite pinpointed the Inciting Event as well as you could have.

In one fell swoop, Tina Fey, the writer and series creator on whom Liz Lemon is based, would seemingly then have provided us with both of these pieces of information through exposition and all in one sitting! 👀

As you can see there is a level of subjectivity in the art of determining these elements, and there are perhaps a couple of interpretations that would probably be correct as the Inciting Event and Problem in this pilot overlap substantially, but no matter how you identify it, as long as you can decipher the Inciting Event and the Problem it has caused for the protagonist(s), you are golden.

Back to the 30 Rock “Pilot” Problem ——-

Liz knows that The Girlie Show is already working well. She is happy with the show and with its ratings. She even asks something along the lines of why would Jack try to fix something that isn’t broken?

Liz worries bringing Tracy Jordan onto the show will be like adding an unpredictable wildcard to the show, potentially changing the tone of a series that she feels is already working. She also doesn’t feel like she should have to cow to this new studio exec.

Credit: Screenshot/Original image owned by NBCUniversal/ 30 Rock “Pilot”

This attempt at changing up the show also causes problems for the lead star of The Girlie Show, Jenna Maroney, because it threatens her place on the show. If Tracy is brought onto the show, she could be out of a job!

The other crew and writers also take issue to Tracy coming onto the show, for various reasons.

In other words, this attempt to reboot the show is causing problems for everyone!

This is primarily Liz Lemon’s story (A). We are viewing the pilot through her eyes (sort of as representative for all the other crew and cast). She’s also the head writer on the show, so it’s kind of up to her to address the problem of the main storyline. Liz Lemon also has the most to learn/stands the most to grow in this particular episode (more on that at some point!)

And what must the trusty protagonist do when she faces a problem or obstacle? She must come up with a PLAN OF ACTION. (More about this in my next post!)

TV CONVENTION OF DROPPING THE PROBLEM IN DIALOGUE

As we saw in the 30 Rock pilot episode example, the Problem is often stated out loud.

Bet you didn’t know (or hadn’t thought about it) that this is a convention stemming back to the early days of television (also used in film to some extent). Usually this exposition comes out in dialogue either in the Cold Open (the scene prior to credits), or at the very top of the episode in a tv show (the 1st Act). This is more or less the same in film (though film likes to add the action to demonstrate).

Remember ALL those times in The Golden Girls, when maybe a couple of the Golden Girls are seated on the LANAI 🍹🌴 at the top of the episode (or maybe it’s in the living room, or often the kitchen (though the kitchen was often the final sequence or perhaps a talking-it-out scene, later in the episode) and then one of them shares something that came up that day?

This is usually the Problem of her particular storyline (just remember there are often a couple of storylines that will be set up, meaning several storylines (and therefore several problems might be dropped)).

Then, perhaps one of the other GGs might come to join them, saying something that then becomes the set-up to another storyline/Problem. This may not be the only way we learn about the Problem. We might see it in action, or some combination of both dialogue and action, but it is a pretty standard convention, at least in sitcoms to state the problem in dialogue.

Image Courtesy of: Disney-ABC Domestic Television/The Golden Girls

TIPS FOR INCORPORATING

If you already know the Problem, then you can reverse engineer your Inciting Event by coming up with things that would’ve caused it. (EX: Your protagonist is destitute = the inciting event may she lost her job). If you know the Inciting Event, you would think of problems that might stem from it.

What are some inciting events you have noticed in television or film? What kind of problems do they create for the protagonist? Next time you watch a show, can you identify the Problem? Was it spoken out loud or how did you realize it was the Problem? If spoken out loud, do you notice who says it and where in the story?

TRY THIS MINI-EXERCISE

Trying watching (3) episodes of the same tv show starting with the pilot and try to identify what is the Inciting Event of each episode. How was it revealed? In the pilot of that episode, were there two very separate inciting events or perhaps they weren’t that indistinguishable. What were they? Can you identify the Problem? Did one of the characters clearly state the Problem somewhere near the top of the episode or film?Try watching a film and identify the same things.