On beginnings and ends, and inciting incidents

The following is an excerpt from essays I’m writing to instruct students in the ways of writing of screenplay. I thought since many of you are fans of films and also writers yourself, you might be interested.

Let’s start talking about Aristotle’s Poetics. Of course you should read it, but in case you wanted some of the highlights, here we go.

Aristotle talks about every story needing a beginning, middle, and end, and this is where we get the idea of a 3 act structure – the dominant structure of most screenplays and films. Now again, you may feel constrained by such formalities. But all writers should at least master the form before messing with it too much. So we’re going to try to stick to the three act structure.

Seems pretty obvious, right? Beginning, middle, and end? But of course, if you read a lot of screenplays, you’ll see that it’s clearly not as easy as it sounds.

The Beginning – the point before which you need nothing. You’ll see that with some of your story ideas I’ve made the comment that I think the story “actually starts here,” – at a point that you were saying is later in your story. That’s because, to me, that’s where the real action starts. If you were to include all that other stuff, in my opinion, you’d be starting “before the beginning.” So really look at how you’re starting your story and ask yourself, “Is this an absolutely essential part of this story? What if I started it here instead?”

This is especially important because the single most important page in your script is your first page. Why? Because that’s the only page you can be sure that a producer, director, or actor will actually read. If you don’t pull them in with the first page, good luck. They might give you 10 pages. If by page 11 your main character is still cooking noodles and checking voicemail and nothing has really happened, then they’ll toss your script. And they tossed it because you started before the beginning.

This idea also relates to scenes. When you write a scene where a group of people are getting together to discuss important matters, do you need to have them entering the room, shaking hands, saying hi, and making small talk? Probably not. There may be reasons you want to include this, but unless it’s absolutely essential you would start the scene in the middle of the discussion, preferably right when the discussions are getting heated. Films are not plays, so we can get away with starting a scene with all that other stuff edited out – and audiences are savvy enough to know that all those people didn’t somehow appear in that room, but rather all the mundane stuff happened already and they didn’t need to see it.

It also applies to dialogue. Yes, even single lines of dialogue. Overwriters out there, listen up. I’ve often found that I can simply go through my dialogue and delete my first sentence and what’s left is much more direct and powerful. And then sometimes I can delete the first half of the sentence that’s left over, and it’s even better.

The end – the point after which you need nothing. Again, it seems obvious, yet you no doubt can think of a lot of films that “should be over by now” but continue. They’ve reached their emotional highpoint, and then they overstay their welcome. You should be ending the film early. Make people want a little more. Part of the reason I think Slumdog Millionaire did so well is that people felt like standing up and cheering at the end of that film because it gave us the emotional highpoint and then credits rolled. Game show, win! Love of his life, found! Now start the awesome dance sequence! People wanted to see the film again because of how it ended.

And while I thought it was a brilliant film, I’d argue that the Hangover overstayed its welcome – that post wedding reception scene was almost boring because the emotional highpoint had already been reached and the story was OVER. And the director knew it too, that’s why he had to throw some… interesting photos into the end credits… just to liven the place up again.

The rule of “end when it’s over” applies to scenes and dialogue, too, just like “start when it begins.”

You really do have to trust the audience to be smart enough to fill in the blanks (and yet you also have to write with clarity – which is why it’s essential to have trusted people read your drafts and let you know when you’re telling too much or too little. You can’t tell, because it’s all in your head.) But if you have to err on one side, err on the side of writing too little.

When we write too much, people become overwhelmed and they zone out. Imagine the best song in the world. If you add a ton of noise on top of it, then no one will hear the genius of it. Often the craftsmanship is in the chipping away of things you thought were needed. Look at Michelangelo’s David and think for a moment that it was a solid block of stone – the art was in getting rid of the stuff that didn’t belong to reveal the beauty locked within. U2’s amazing guitarist the Edge said that the brilliance in guitar playing depends on “the notes you don’t play” as much as, if not more than, the notes you do.

Story Structure
Let me really quickly give you a rundown of the standard story milestones that can be found in almost all great screenplays. These are guideposts that help you string a 90 minute story together. You’ll find these moments in almost all the films you enjoy.

1) Normal World

What is your character’s everyday life like, before the storm hits? This part shouldn’t be long, but it should be efficient and tell us a ton as an audience.

2) Inciting Incident (normally around page 5 to 10)

This is the action that answers the question, “What now?” In other words, this is the thing that happens that starts your story. In Star Wars, it’s that droids land on Luke’s planet. In Braveheart, it’s that his wife is killed. In Juno, it’s that she finds out she’s pregnant.

3) First Act Break (normally between pages 17 and 30) This is when your main character makes a “I can’t go back” action. The dice is tossed. The bridge is burnt.

4) First false epiphany (normally around 45). This is when it looks like things might work out for your character, and your character is maybe even enjoying this new world and journey.

5) Midpoint (page 60) This is when your character goes from being somewhat passive to completely active in achieving his or her destiny. And often the character’s initial goal will shift. (For instance, it used to be about getting rich, now it’s about being a better person.)

6) Second false epiphany (page 75) This is when your character looks like he or she has really achieved something good, and we’re close to having victory. Because your action should always be rising, the second false epiphany should be more complete, better, than the first.

7) The Big Gloom (page 90) The boom drops. All that happiness from the second false epiphany is stripped away, along with all the tools the main character thought she had developed and all the people she thought she could count on. She is all alone. This is the end of Act 2.

8.) Act 3 (page 90-115) The character uses his or her own resources to face down the biggest challenge and achieves (or doesn’t) her goal. End it no later than 115 pages. Well, maybe 120. But generally speaking, the less the better. (Remember, people don’t really like to read.)

Inciting Incident
I’ll give you two examples of events that happen that “kick off the story.” The first is from Superbad – when Jonah Hill’s character is asked to bring the booze to the party. Superbad is an odd counterexample to the “put the inciting incident in page 5-10 rule,” because it happens around the 19 minute mark. They spend a ton of time on Jonah Hill and Michael Cera’s “Normal World.” I think this choice works for them because those kids are pretty charming, and the story is about them and their relationship, in the end. Their normal world is important because they are both dealing with the fact that it will be ending soon no matter what they do. But if you’re going to break a rule, have a REASON for breaking it that you can articulate and defend.

The second example is from “As Good As It Gets.” This is another “abnormal” inciting incident because it’s the first scene of the film – when Jack Nicholson’s character throws Greg Kinnear’s dog down the garbage chute. It’s happening really early, but it really works. This movie gives us no real “normal world,” but instead plunges us right into the action. Again, I think this is a fine choice – the absolute right choice – because we’re engaged right away, and most of the stuff we needed to know about their normal world – that Jack Nicholson’s character is a cruel misanthrope and that Greg Kinnear’s character is the kind of guy who would own a tiny toy dog – are on display in this scene. We get a taste of Helen Hunt’s normal world later on, anyway.

You’ll notice that for Superbad the inciting incident was a conversation, a request, while for As Good As it Gets it’s a very dramatic action. Inciting Incidents can be anything, from a death, to a storm, to a person’s action, to a couple of words.

Bonus Lesson The other really important thing to take from Aristotle is that there are two important elements of any story – plot and character. But, actually, there is one paramount element, and that is Plot. Why?

Because characters are defined by what they DO. (As are people.) You may describe your character as a great guy. You may have him say in his dialogue that he’s a great guy. But the second he kicks a cat, he is not a great guy anymore, and of those three things, which is the most indelibly memorable? The dude kicking a cat. And movies are all about being memorable.

Sizzling dialogue without a good story is boring. Plot is super important. It needs to start somewhere, and needs to lead you somewhere. Plot is the journey. People will forgive a good plot without good dialogue (ahem, Titanic), but aren’t as likely to stick with a film if it doesn’t have a good plot (or any plot at all.)

Like a good melody, plot will pull everything together and will actually make all the elements seem better than they even are.. This isn’t to say that good character and dialogue aren’t needed, or even essential. In fact, I think that character and plot work together like clockwork, and that you can’t really know your plot until you know your characters, or vice versa. But this is to say that something IMPORTANT needs to happen in a good film. It can’t just be some witty people standing around and talking to each other, acting interesting.