How to Find the Right Place for Your Inciting Incident

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Struggling to find where your story truly begins? Learn how to pinpoint the perfect place for your inciting incident.

The inciting incident (sometimes called the inciting event) is one of the most critical moments in any novel. It’s the point where something changes—where the protagonist's normal world is disrupted and the core story begins. It kicks off the central conflict and gives readers a reason to keep turning pages.

But unlike major plot points like the midpoint or climax, the inciting incident doesn’t have a fixed place in a story’s structure, which can cause confusion—especially for newer writers.

You’ll find articles that say it should be on page one. Others claim it belongs at the 10% mark. Some swear by chapter three. And the truth is...they're all right, depending on the novel.

Story Structure: How the Inciting Event Works in a Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The opening scene isn’t the real start of your story. The inciting event is.

The inciting event is one of my two favorite turning points in a novel (the other is the midpoint). It’s that moment at the top of a roller coaster just before it tips forward and races into a spiral. It’s when all the fun and excitement you’d been anticipating while waiting in line is about happen.

Sure, the first line, the first page, and the first chapter get most the attention, but they’re only the first things readers see, not where the story begins. First pages are the setup for the real story, and the bridge that connects the opening scene to the inciting event.

And that’s when things really take off.

Something to Get Inciting About: The Inciting Event

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The inciting event. You can’t talk about how to write good openings without someone mentioning it. But what exactly is it and how do you make it work for your novel?

What it is: The inciting event is that moment early on in your story when things irrevocably change for your protagonist. The event that sets them on the path that will become the novel, the major conflict, the whole reason someone picked up the book in the first place.

Where it is: Within the first 30 to 50 pages of your manuscript. Now, this doesn’t that mean it has to come between pages 30 and 50. Just somewhere between page one and 30, or page one and 50 (for longer novels). Some books require a little more set up. If you have a larger word count, the first 50 pages might work better for you. A smaller word count, 30 pages is more than enough time to get to the inciting event.