Schooooooool IS out for summer! Yay!
And this is the third day in a row I've posted! Double yay!
Today I played a mean joke on my coworker, who is totally afraid of zombies. I told him how completely awesome THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH is and that he had to read it, but I didn't tell him what it was about. I can't wait until he reads it. I mean, I thought it was scary, but I can't wait for his reaction!
Last weekend was great, full of chicken curry and WEEDS. I watched the first two seasons on demand from netflix. I wasn't sure I would like it because it's been labeled a sitcom and it's only a half hour long, but really it should be called a dramedy. And they pack enough awesomeness into each episode that they seem like an hour long. I've got seasons 3 and 4 on their way.
I've been thinking about inciting incidents. In THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, there's a huge inciting incident at the beginning of the book that draws you in immediately. My problem is that I always think the inciting incident is the actual story, whereas it should just get things rolling in an interesting way. So, yeah, I think my stories always start too early.
Ugh. Heartburn. Need TUMS.
Any thoughts on inciting incidents? Is that how a book immediately draws you in?
New Beginning 703
16 minutes ago
8 comments:
Three days in a row!! Woot woot!
Revisions are going fabulously, by the way! Thanks for asking :)
I didn't know TFOHAT was about zombies either, and it really doesn't SAY "ZOMBIE BOOK: BEWARE" anywhere on it. Muahaha, you're awesomely cruel ;)
Yay for posting! I missed them.
As for inciting incidents, I'm more of a character kind of gal. If the "incident" is a little further back, I can forgive it if I LOVE the character.
Sometimes it's a little too jarring when it happens in the first chapter. I feel like I don't know the character. And if I don't know them, then why should I care what crazy thing is happening to them?
Jill, I had did a set of posts on the Inciting Incident over on my blog. Click on Inciting Incident in the left hand column under Glam's Top Help posts. Sorry if the posts are confusing. It's a tough subject to cover.
I believe more in the Inciting Incident character than the actual incident. The character should be a large force in the story, present or not.
I like to think of the Inciting Incident as the point of no return. It is the point in the story that locks your MC on their journey. It has altered their original path and they MUST travel down this path before some ticking clock goes off to get to the end.
In Holes, it was when Stanley caught the sneakers. If he hadn't caught them, his life would have continued on the same path. BECAUSE he caught them, his life was altered forever and he was locked on his journey.
In screenwriting, we call it the point of no return. I like that better then II. And it happens about 15 minutes into the movie....
Now I have the song in my head! Must put on my iTunes...to listen to something else.
Okay. Black eyed Peas. Get the party started. See, I'm all for getting those inciting incidents out there.
Ooh, I like the point of no return thing.
I like the point of no return idea too. I really like it.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies--a rewrite of Austen's book!
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