Hi Reader,

A great inciting incident does a lot of heavy lifting.

→ It hooks your readers, pulling them into the story.

→ And it sets up everything to come, laying the foundation for a brilliant climax your readers will love.

The beginning matters. Which means there’s a lot of pressure to get it right.

But what does right actually mean? How do you start a story well?

That’s what I’m tackling in today’s brand-new episode of Your Next Draft. I’m going beyond the definition of the inciting incident to share what I as an editor am looking for when I edit inciting incidents.

In other words, if you’ve written an inciting incident and aren’t sure how to tell if it works, this episode is your guide to edit it.

You’ll hear:

• How I define the inciting incident
• Where in the story the inciting incident appears (and how to tell if it’s too early or too late)
• The 7 qualities I’m watching for when I edit an inciting incident
• The 4 common inciting incident traps I see writers fall into (including one that’s really hard to spot, and yet it can tank the whole story)
• And more

​Read or listen to Inciting Incident: How to Revise an Unputdownable Beginning »​

Plus, I’ve gathered it all into a one-page cheat sheet you can reference every time you edit an inciting incident. Print it out and keep it in your writing space for easy access.

If you’ve ever found the advice to “make sure your story has an inciting incident” unsatisfactory, this episode is for you.

Don’t just make sure your story has an inciting incident. Use this episode to revise it until it’s good. Great. Unputdownable, even.

​Read or listen now »​

Happy editing,

Alice