Welcome to Day 3 of 40 craft lessons from 40 picture books.
A new male teacher with tattoos. Does he sound strange to you?
Well, your reaction isn’t the point here. Mr. Mendoza might not seem unsettling to you, but to Xavier, the main character of My Teacher Has Tattoos, he is. In Xavier’s understanding, having tattoos is a red line. Only people who have been to jail have them.
When Mr. Mendoza becomes Xavier’s teacher, that moment is the inciting incident because of two things: first, Xavier’s perception, and second, the emotional challenge he faces. The inciting incident hits the main character—either physically, mentally, or both. Everything was fine until one day …
A moment like this matters because the inciting incident is a determining factor.
If Xavier didn’t have a negative perception, or if he could easily overcome it, there would be no story.
This means the inciting incident should hit a sweet spot. It needs to shake the main character’s world, but not so hard that they can’t fight back, or so lightly that they barely notice it.
Moreover, the inciting incident is also an indicator and a revision tool. Have you heard the writing advice that “naive writers start their story from chapter 3”?
This means those early chapters often contain backstory and world-building that don’t yet matter to readers because the real story hasn’t begun.
The inciting incident is the moment the story truly begins, when your character is pushed off balance and must respond.
Hint: Don’t confuse the inciting incident with the hook. A hook is a tool to attract a reader’s attention. The inciting incident is an element of the story that hits the main character.
I hope reading this blog post has given you new ideas. See you tomorrow for Day 4. If you would like to read these 40 craft lessons on WhatsApp, please join the channel.
More blog posts on picture book craft are available on PictureBookPedia.