The INCITING INCIDENT…

Also called the CATALYST, INCITING EVENT, TRAUMATIC EVENT, HOOK, etc.

What the hell is it?

From my perspective, it seems to be one of the major things LACKING from many screenwriters attempting to break into the industry and start getting paid.

The INCITING INCIDENT is the LIFE-CHANGING EVENT that PROPELS the Protagonist out of his or her Ordinary World and into the New World which eventually leads him or her to finding both mental and physical happiness.

Your inciting incident needs to GRAB the audience. Even if we’ve seen this event before, give it a twist so the audience’s prediction is turned upside down and is dead wrong!

It’s that one thing that happens to your Hero that throws his or her life completely off balance thereby creating instant conflict and tension.

It’s that one thing that happens to your Hero that makes him or her TAKE ACTION.

It’s that one thing that happens to your Hero that makes him or her come up with a goal.

The inciting incident can even be a new opportunity presented to the Protagonist. A trip. A new job. Whatever.

The inciting incident… However appealing it may be to your Protagonist, should be an immediate source of conflict thereby making your Protagonist want to RESOLVE this conflict but the only way to resolve the conflict is for your Hero to take ACTION.

The inciting incident you come up with for your screenplay should cause your Hero to transition from NEED to DESIRE.

Need?

Sure. At the beginning of your story, your Protagonist is in dire NEED of something. Maybe it’s love. Maybe it’s money. Maybe it’s a job. Maybe it’s to get off drugs. Maybe maybe maybe. Just make sure it’s a good need. If it is something tangible like money, make sure you create a damn good reason for that need. We don’t NEED to see your Protagonist jumping through obstacles throughout your entire screenplay so he can get enough money for the cigarette machine. Although on second thought, that might actually be funny if handled correctly. See Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. I normally don’t like movies like these but this one had what it takes to actually make me laugh.

Desire?

Sure. After you’ve identified your Protagonist’s need, that very need should transition into desire. The inciting incident should be like a LURE to your Protagonist to quench that desire and, just like that elusive brown trout (yeah, I fly fish) that splits as soon as he sees your shadow hit the water, your Protagonist should swim around that lure or fly trying to decide whether or not he should take a bite.

Your Protagonist must then attempt to satisfy his or her desire by taking action but of course this action is futile at first.

Make no mistake… When your Protagonist does decide to take that bite… AND HE SHOULD, it needs to be his decision to do so.

I see a lot of screenplays with really weak inciting incidents but pretty good 2nd Acts (assuming 3 Act Structure). Somehow, we’ve been lulled into thinking that the 1st Act doesn’t have to be as great as the successive acts… Especially, Act 2.

I’m here to tell you that setting up your Protagonist for his or her journey ahead is worth doing well. If you do it well enough, we will want to read through the rest of your screenplay. We will want to sit through the rest of your movie.

Coming up with the perfect INCITING INCIDENT should be reasonably easy to to develop IF YOU KNOW YOUR PROTAGONIST! The better you know him or her, the easier it should be to create the perfect inciting incident that propels him or her into action.

I plead with you to give your inciting incident some deep conscious thought. The better it is, the better your screenplay will be and the easier it will be for us to read through it and watch your movie.

Unk

10 screenwriting tips without actually writing

1) Read everything you can get your hands on. Everything you read will be somehow absorbed into your screenwriting. Read a woman’s magazine or a men’s sport magazine while you’re at the doctor’s office. Read the newspaper… Especially the headlines. Read “how to” articles. Read the side of your cereal box. Here’s a new one… Read a book! It’s amazing what you can learn by simply reading everything you can get your hands on but at a minimum, try to always have at least one book you’re always reading. Don’t wait for months and months to start a new one, keep that stream of new information feeding into your brain at a steady rate. Everything you read will be absorbed into your screenwriting thus, making you a better screenwriter.

2) Go READ a DVD. That’s right, a DVD. How do you do that? Easy, set the DVD menu so that the English (or whatever language you’re comfortable with) subtitles come up. Then sit there and read all the dialogue. Use the rest of your senses to absorb the rest of the movie and read the dialogue. This will give you a lot of insight to writing outstanding dialogue. It’s all there… Believability, subtext, authenticity. Go read a DVD.

3) Read one screenplay a week. That’s 52 screenplays a year. More than most screenwriters have ever read in their entire LIVES! Free screenplays are readily available for download on the net in .pdf, .html, and .txt formats. Just do a search for free screenplays on Google to get you started. After several GOOD screenplays, you’ll start getting a feel for how the pros do it i.e., dialogue, action, structure, characters, etc. Again, you will absorb everything you read and eventually export it to your screenplays in one way or another.

4) Act. Yeah, go take an acting class. To really learn about subtext, take an acting class and see how actors create subtext within a scene as opposed to how a screenwriter writes in the subtext. This is an amazing revelation and will definitely improve your writing… Especially character action AND dialogue.

5) Spy on people. No, don’t become a stalker but simply observe the people around you instead of being so focused on your own world. You will see amazing things that people do on a day to day basis. This can only expand your writing when it comes to creating characters. Watch how people eat. Watch how they react to good news and bad. See how little things make them happy or sad. Look for the little details i.e., jewelry, clothing, shoes, tattoos, makeup, weight, posture, etc. The more people you watch, the better. Remember, your characters must be authentic. Taking a variety of characteristics from actual people you’ve observed creates authenticity.

6) Play your entire movie in your head. You’d be surprised at how many wannabe screenwriters fail to do this simple (well, maybe not so simple) task. When writing a screenplay, playing the entire movie in your head at least once a day should be at the top of your THINGS TO DO LIST. You’ll discover problems you didn’t know you had, new things to set up, sub plots, etc. Try to go from beginning to end at least once a day EVEN if you don’t have the entire story figured out yet. TIP: Try this right after you go to bed… Fall asleep to the playing of your movie and wake up solving problems. It works!

7) Pitch your screenplay idea to 25 people. Do it in person, over the phone, via email, but do it. None of these people have to be an expert on screenwriting. Use family and friends if you have to but stay away from those people that don’t want to hurt your feelings. You want honest feedback here. Boil your story down to a logline and pitch it to 25 people and then ask, “Would you pay $10 to see this movie?” If they wouldn’t pay the ten bucks, be sure to ask why and make mental notes. If over 85% of the people you pitch your story to say they WOULD PAY their ten bucks to see it, you just “might” have a great idea for a movie.

8) Go to a screenwriting workshop. I know, I know… Money’s always a problem but if this is REALLY what you want to do, then you gotta find a way to do it. This is an investment in yourself and that’s always a good investment! Try to attend at least one screenwriting workshop a year. Consider starting out with the annual in Los Angeles. Not only can you learn a massive amount of screenwriting information in a short period of time, you can network, pitch an idea or a screenplay at the pitching workshops. On top of this, meet other writers who are going through the same thing you’re going through! Trade contact information. Maybe you can read and critique each other’s work. Try to make it part of a vacation… Once a year.

9) Go to the movies! Yeah, I know most of them suck these days but that’s kind of a good thing… Why? You can go and learn what NOT TO DO! Trust me, Hollywood WANTS GOOD STORIES! The problem is that there aren’t too many people writing them these days. Go watch a movie and see how it works. Do you identify with the characters? If so, WHY? Where did the story slow down and lose your attention and why? Count the clichés. Did the ending satisfy you? If so, WHY? If not, WHY? Get a sense of how the film was structured. Get a sense of pacing. Watch the hero’s journey.

10) Read entertainment news. No, you don’t have to subscribe to Variety or the Hollywood Reporter but it might not be a bad idea… LOL. You can read just about all the same news online if you know where to go. These links will get you started.






















Be sure to investigate the NEWS links at all the sites. Lots of great information about the industry.

Unk

Synchronicity… Do you or don’t you?

Believe in it that is…

A friend of mine… Very huge in the business and must also remain anonymous (maybe later) has recently talked to me about SYNCHRONICITY.

Apparently, it happens A LOT to me and I never even knew what it was… LOL. Anyway, he’s showing me how I can attempt to use it in my writing and everyday life so why not a blog?

So yesterday, I was doing my usual cruising of the trades while working on my rewrite… Doesn’t everyone rewrite this way?

I happened to come across the article on Billy Wilder and I read it, loved it, and shared it with you below.

So here we are today and again, working on my SPEC rewrite and cruising the news and find yet another Billy Wilder article. The difference being that this time around, I wasn’t cruising the trades.

Another note… My headline below for the Billy Wilder article was taken right from the article itself…

“Playing by his rules” – So now today, I find another article QUITE BY ACCIDENT called, “Billy Wilder’s Rules of Good Filmmaking…”

Accident? Coincidence? Synchronicity?

Well hell… I don’t want to be BORING (*NOTE: Billy mentions this in his article too! WOW!) so why not treat this as SYNCHRONICITY? It’s better than being boring and hey… YOU NEVER KNOW.

Here’s the article…

Billy Wilder’s Rules of Good Filmmaking

And, since this IS a screenwriting blog, why not steal a little from the article as well… LOL.

Billy Wilder’s Screenwriting Tips

As told to Cameron Crowe:

1. The audience is fickle.

2. Grab’em by the throat and never let’em go.

3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.

4. Know where you’re going.

5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.

6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.

7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.

8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.

9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.

10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then – that’s it. Don’t hang around.

Maybe now we should PICK THESE TIPS APART… Not because Billy didn’t know what he was talking about but because let’s face it… These rules are in his own words.

Remember SUBTEXT? That’s exactly what we’re after here. Let’s go find it!

Rule 1: The audience is fickle.

Right on Billy! You sure as HELL nailed that one. Look at what we’re going through today with the audience VOTING WITH THEIR WALLETS. Not nearly as much audience identification these days and characters we don’t care about… Predictable garbage. Formulaic. Let’s move on…

Rule 2: Grab’em by the throat and never let’em go.

Again, Billy NAILED it. Your screenplay must contain scenes and plot points that consistently turn clichés UPSIDE DOWN! Just as soon as the audience EXPECTS or PREDICTS a specific event to happen, CHANGE IT UP! Make us LEAN FORWARD in our theater seat! Get our attention! Pull the audience into your story by creating sympathetic, empathetic, emotional, flawed, unpredictable characters! Constantly rising conflict and stakes. Almost makes you breathless doesn’t it? Almost makes you want to sit down, flip open the old laptop and get to work…

After you read on of course. LOL.

Rule 3: Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.

This means two things to me. Structure and believability. You must have your characters overcoming the obstacles you throw in their path in a believable way… Ways that would be consistent with the character you created. You can’t all of a sudden show us a mechanic that is now an expert computer hacker unless you foreshadowed that up front. We, the audience, must believe in the action that your characters decide to choose and the only way to do that is to make sure the action is consistent with the character you’ve developed for us. *NOTE: This is where research really comes in handy… And not just internet research. Books and LIVE, PHYSICAL research is often better.

Rule 4: Know where you’re going.

I purposely didn’t talk structure above (even though I think “Rule 3” has something to do with it) because I think STRUCTURE really fits here alongside “Rule 4. Know where you’re going. ” Wow. An understatement. In other words, we’re talking about structure. Not 3 Act, 4 Act (what I use), 6 Act, 9 Act, Hero’s Journey, (12 Act?) Sequences, or the 22 Steps… Of course each one of these theories has their own structure but what I’m talking about here is THE PLOT according to THE OUTLINE. Take one of your structure theories above or your own if you have one and apply it to your outline and PLAN YOUR STORY out. Get it all down. I still use 3 X 5 cards. Use what works for YOU. Get the plan or STORY all plotted out in your outline and then FOLLOW IT i.e., KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING.

Rule 5: The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.

In other words, I think Billy is telling us once again, NOT TO BE PREDICTABLE! Okay, so maybe you didn’t listen when “I” wrote it… That’s cool. But now you have no excuse! This rule pretty much speaks for itself but even so, what I think is key here is that Billy is telling us to misdirect the audience. Don’t give them the story they expect or are predicting to unfold. Turn clichés upside down. Reverse the obvious. Use set-ups but don’t be obvious with them. Don’t draw a lot of attention to them… Let us, the audience slap ourselves on the forehead when we see you pay off the set-up. Don’t let any foreshadowing take over the story. Foreshadowing and exposition has to be performed in such a way that we BELIEVE it’s just “par for the course” in the world that you’re showing us.

Geez, this is fun, isn’t it?

Rule 6: If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.

Billy, YOU’RE MY FUCKIN’ HERO! How many times have you read in the books or listened to the GURUS (you know who you are – yes, they read this blog) that the 2nd Act is the toughest? Well I guess I just wasn’t listening or reading that day. Actually, I was but I have since come to my own conclusion… That being, to set up the 1st Act so that it’s PERFECT. A perfect, or NEAR PERFECT 1st Act makes Acts 2, 3, and 4 (I use the 4 Act Structure) one hell of a lot easier to pull off. I don’t mean to say that you have to nail that 1st Act in your first draft… The first draft is simply that… The first draft. All that shit you have rambling around up there in your brain about your story that needs to be PURGED i.e., THE FIRST DRAFT. I’ll expand on this in future blogging but for now, look to your 1st Act when it comes time for the first rewrite. Make that puppy shine like a brand new silver dollar. The better your 1st Act, the easier it is to keep your audience. Even if your successive acts break down a bit here and there, you set up that 1st Act so fucking well that you’ll keep the audience GLUED to their seat. Yeah, it works.

Rule 7: A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.

What’s Billy saying? Give the audience something to work with! Let them be a detective. Let them figure out a few things… Just NOT everything. Don’t confuse the audience… Today, (even though a lot of kids in college can’t even tell you who the Vice President is) the audience demographic is very sophisticated. They pretty much have to be… They’re bombarded in ALL DIRECTIONS with the media, sex, lies, news, etc. So, throw your audience a bone. You owe them that much since they plopped down their hard earned money to see your flick… Okay, they plopped down their parents’ hard earned money… LOL.

Rule 8: In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.

This is such a great tip… How many times do I have to read in a screenplay where the main character is “feeling the loss of his mommy, his puppy, whatever.” We can’t see a feeling my friends unless the character PHYSICALLY MANIFESTS THAT FEELING! There, I said it and I feel much better now but how can you tell?

Moving on…

Rule 9: The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.

Okay, I’m willing to take comments on this but my own story structure preference is that by the end of the 2nd Act (for you 3 Act screenwriters), at a minimum, the following plot points should happen:

For screenwriters like me who use the 4 Act Structure, all the above culminates at the end of the 3rd Act instead of the 2nd.

It is events like these that TRIGGER the end of the movie. It is events like these that SUCK the audience right back into their seat and make them hold on for the finish.

Rule 10: The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then – that’s it. Don’t hang around.

Go Billy, GO! Keep the action REVVING. Conflict RISING. Tension BUILDING. Don’t let us up for air. Make us fucking GRIP the hell out of that theater seat! Use REVERSALS during the last Act… “Wow, he’s gonna make it!” “Shit, he’s not gonna make it!” Back and forth, back and forth until your Protagonist achieves his or her goal and ANSWERS the central question of the story. After that, a nice little scene or two of what I call the Visual Epilogue and GET THE HELL OUTTA DODGE!

Why?

Because the movie’s over!

Thanks Billy! I hope someday we can eventually sit around and talk STORY.

Unk

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