Inciting Incident: How to Begin Your Screenplay and Engage Audiences Right Away (repost)

Are You Struggling to Get Your Story Started?
Do you want to know how to capture a reader's interest within the first 10 pages of your script? In JERRY MAGUIRE, Renée Zellweger famously said, "You had me at 'hello.'" Great scripts (and novels*) do the same. They grip audiences from the very beginning. With the help of the inciting incident, your story can too.

Write a Gripping Story No Reader Can Put Down

If you understand the inciting incident–what it is, why it works, and when it happens–you'll be much closer to writing a gripping script that no reader will be able to put down. It's your secret weapon against the worst writing sin: boring your readers. But the inciting incident can be intimidating. When you're studying successful movies, you may find three (or more scenes) which seem like viable candidates. Sometimes, the inciting incident won't even be shown on-screen! And even if you figure that all out…how do you translate that knowledge and improve your own script?

What You'll Learn about the Inciting Incident

As the saying goes, "you fear what you don't understand." Well, fellow scribe, fear no longer. After you read this clear, comprehensive, fluff-free guide, the inciting incident won't be able to intimidate you anymore. It can’t, not when you’ll know everything about it, including:

• the 4 key characteristics of the inciting incident
• tips for presenting your hero's “everyday” world
• when the inciting incident occurs and when it's a wise strategy to keep it off-screen
• the connection between the inciting incident and the end of Act One
• how MINORITY REPORT got away with such a delayed inciting incident
• the secret ingredient which made Liam Neeson so appealing in TAKEN and Ryan Reynolds so attractive in THE PROPOSAL (it's not what you think)
• what conducive conditions are and how to distinguish them from the inciting incident
• the pitfalls of beginning your screenplay with extended prologue
• strategies for writing your first 10 pages
• 4 methods to handle the screenplay sequence after the inciting incident
• how the inciting incident can help you edit your script
• the relationship between the inciting incident and genre
• 3 alternative approaches to the standard action movie inciting incident
• how to choose the best inciting incident if you've come up with multiple options

Like Examples? Me Too!

I’m a big fan of learning by example. So I use plenty of them to illustrate my points. But sometimes examples just aren’t enough. That’s why I’ve also included 10 detailed case studies which should help you put together all the writing secrets you'll learn from this book.

All blockbuster films, the case studies include THE HUNGER GAMES, AIR FORCE ONE, A FEW GOOD MEN, MONSTERS INC., BRAVEHEART, and IT'S COMPLICATED.
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*While all the examples come from movies, this guide can help novelists who are struggling to get their story started.