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M.d Tabish Faraz ⁽⁷⁵⁾ United Kingdom

M.d Tabish Faraz

M.d Tabish Faraz - A Screenwriting Teacher

The Inciting Incident and Plot Point I: Understand the Difference

Posted Wednesday, July 18, 2007 (2 years 130 days ago.) Viewed 748 times.

As many of you know, a feature film screenplay is broadly divided into three acts:

The beginning (Setup) that is 22 to 30 pages long,

Middle (confrontation or conflict) that is about 60 pages long, and

End (Resolution) that is about 25 to 30 pages long.

But what most fresh screenwriters don't seem to understand correctly and make a technical mistake in is the first act (the beginning or the setup) where their writing indicates their misunderstanding of the difference between the inciting incident and plot point I, the two major highs in the first act.

Let's have a look at the definitions in order to make it easy for us to properly differentiate between the two screenplay elements and consequently be able to write Act I of our screenplays in the most effective way possible:

What is the Inciting Incident?

An inciting incident is the event that throws the everyday life of the protagonist out of balance. The event;

must NOT has to do anything with the will of the protagonist,
doesn't necessarily have to be the reaction of something the protagonist did at the start of the screenplay, and
must NOT be the reaction of something the protagonist did in his life that existed before the start of the screenplay.

What is the Plot Point I?

Plot point I or the first turning point in a screenplay is the event that takes place either by the will of the protagonist himself or without his will and forces his circumstances to a whole new direction. The plot point I is the result of the inciting incident.

The above definitions of the two elements of Act I may make you think that the inciting incident is the biggest thing that occurs in Act I. If it is indeed the case, you are actually disagreeing with the screenwriting coaches who teach in screenwriting academic programs and those screenwriting experts who have written and published books on screenwriting as those screenwriting courses and books which talk about plot point I in details maintain that the plot point I is the most biggest thing that happens in Act I. And you know what? They are absolutely right.

Let me explain it to you.

Regardless of which one of the two appears to be the biggest event in Act I, it will remain the fact that plot point I is the biggest one of the two because it is the plot point I that turns the story into a whole new, more conflicting and progressive direction. Moreover, the inciting incident complements the plot point I and the case is not the opposite. In this regard plot point I is taken into consideration as the biggest event of Act I among Hollywood professionals.

Now that you are aware of the difference between the inciting incident and plot point I, it's time now to start writing. So do it!

Copyright (C) 2007-2008 M.d Tabish Faraz. All Rights Reserved.

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A Wrong Practice in Third World Countries

Posted Monday, July 16, 2007 (2 years 132 days ago.) Viewed 196 times.

In some parts of the globe, particularly in third world countries, the corporate world takes the aspiring and working individuals of entertainment industry as non-serious people. Not only the aspiring and working individuals of entertainment industry are regarded as non-serious people, but the industry itself does not have any recognition in the chambers of commerce. The reason for that can be attributed to the poor performance of the entertainment industry in those global regions. Whatever the cause(s), it gets very difficult for the workers of entertainment industry to prove themselves as dedicated people and get a better job in the corporate sector at times when they are out of work due to the low number of the industry projects at any time of a year. Consequently, the workers have to do low-pay jobs and live their lives below the living standards they actually deserve or qualify.

Unlike what happens in the third world countries, aspiring and working individuals of the entertainment industry are considered dedicated people and the industry itself is recognized in the commercial circles of developed countries. One can say that this is because of the great revenue that is generated by the industry in those countries. No doubt this is the main reason of the difference, but this is no reason the aspiring and working individuals of the entertainment industry of third world countries should be underestimated and given no-to-few job opportunities in the corporate world. This unfair practice needs to be changed in third world countries if they want to bring fresh perspectives to their corporate sector for good.

Yes, corporate sector of third world countries needs to understand that the people who work for the projects of entertainment industry are just as dedicated people as those working in the corporate sector. As a matter of fact, on many occasions, one can notice that the workers of entertainment industry are more devoted than the human resource in the corporate world. One can understand this by looking at the fact that a working individual of corporate sector can relatively easily take any day off leaving the task or tasks of that particular day to be taken care by their colleague(s). This is certainly not the case with an entertainment industry worker as no matter what happens they have to be present, working on the important days of the projects. They can't take the day-off that easily because almost all the time they are the only person with the set of skills or talents to be performed for the projects. Often it happens and the entertainment industry professionals always prove themselves as very serious and devoted workers towards their assigned tasks.

Let's take screenwriters for example. A screenwriter is a very knowledgeable person and given priority for various different writing jobs in the corporate sector of developed countries. As a matter of fact, many top performing corporations of the world including Microsoft Corporation regularly send their entire creative staffs to the lectures of a working screenwriter Robert McKee, who is also a screenwriting coach at a famous brick-and-mortar university of the United States of America and the author of some of the best known books on the topic of story and storytelling.

So, anybody who calls themselves an individual with the working experience of the entertainment industry, a screenwriter for example, is worth calling for an interview for an important job in the corporate sector.

Copyright (C) 2007-2008 M.d Tabish Faraz. All Rights Reserved.

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