Screenwriting : Today's Wish and Creative Tip by Laurie Ashbourne

What if and When There’s an old formula for framing a pitch that says start with “What if…” What if, a dimwitted ex-con returns to crime in order to give his police officer wife the baby she can’t have? This is all well and good for the big picture, but to get to the meat of the point of view we need to look at the inciting incident when the main character’s world is turned upside down. To find your true inciting incident is to find when the story’s premise, as defined in the what if, actually kicks in (if it doesn’t happen before your first act break, then you need to rethink the what if). When a dimwitted ex-con and his police officer wife find out they can’t have children, they resort to kidnapping. I chose RAISING ARIZONA (not only because it’s great and sometimes just flashes in my head), but because it has so many scenes early on that could be confused with the inciting incident. The ‘when’ in RAISING ARIZONA is when Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter’s life of wedded bliss is turned upside down. It’s not when a cop marries an ex-con, or when an ex-con’s cellmates escape and come to move in with the new couple. Why is it important to make a distinction of which is the inciting incident? Because that is the point of view of which the plot unfolds which helps define the theme and just plain makes it all gel. Keep Jr. in your sights and the pantyhose off of your head. https://youtu.be/2AIfVoGUs6c