Overview
In storytelling, most writers divide a tale into three parts or acts often referred to as the Three-Act Structure. The first and third acts are anywhere from a fourth to a third of the story with the second act sometimes being as much as half the story.
In general, characters and the world are introduced in the first act. This is the place of the trigger that starts a chain reaction for the Point of View (POV) character(s) journey where they will face multiple challenges and problems. Each of these difficulties faced comes with ever increasing challenges. Logically, the third act sees the resolution of all those difficulties.
Key Elements of Act 1
Within the three-act structure there are turning points. These are points that change the characters and send them down paths they never intended to go.
Hook
The hook in the beginning of a story throws the reader in to a different world with new people to get to know. It should grip the reader so they continue to turn the page and discover more. The POV character may have been kidnapped on page one. That’s the hook. Who has her? Why did they take her? What’s going to happen? How is she going to get free?
Inciting Incident
The first of the turning points is called the inciting incident and usually happens near or at the end of the first act. This is the point where the POV character must make a decision that will drive everything that follows. The inciting incident is about the character and therefore differs from the opening action that hooks a reader.
By the end of act one, the POV character has to decide if she is going to believe that her kidnapper is actually her hero trying to keep her safe, or the villain out to destroy her life. She must make an irreversible decision. Either choice will dictate everything that follows. Will she stay with the kidnapper and race against the odds to survive the real enemy or plot her escape and try to remain hidden and safely away from him but totally on her own. There is no going back. This one moment will change everything.
Many times the inciting incident is action based. A physical movement of the character based on their beliefs and goals. What is the character trying to save? Their life, finances, reputation, and emotional well-being can each be the one thing the character has to protect above all else. That one thing drives the decision of the character to choose which irreversible decision they can never change.
Sometimes the inciting incident can be an action by another character that shoves the POV character into the irreversible decision and they have to choose what to do next. Take a king who is fed up with the reprobate behavior of his heir. In a fit of anger he tells the young man he is not in fact his son or the queen’s. The heir apparent is not an heir at all. What does the young man do with that information? Does he cave under the pressure to live as the king demands to retain the long-promised crown or does he seek out his true parents knowing he will leave the wealth and power behind forever?
The inciting incident is a key driving force that thrusts your story along. It requires the POV character to face things about themselves they have tried to avoid, to reach for their dreams or let them die. They are forced into situations beyond their control with people they aren’t sure they can trust. This is the heart of your story. And the inciting incident triggers it all and launches you from Act 1 to Act 2.
