What Moment Shatters Your Protagonist’s Normal World?

Crossing the threshold | First Draft November: Day 7

art by Mariam Chagelishvili

→ This week’s goal: Power through Act One and get to the place where your character makes a decision they can’t go back on.

→ Word target: 12k words by the end of the week.

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Hi writers,

We’re closing in on our first big milestone (about 12,000 words), which puts us right at the Inciting Incident + Debate beat. This is the turning point that disrupts your protagonist’s ordinary world and forces them to confront something new. It doesn’t yet launch them into Act Two (that will happen closer to 20K), but it sets everything in motion.

Here’s today’s guiding question:

What moment shatters your protagonist’s normal world, and why can’t they go back?

Let’s talk about what the inciting incident looks like. This is the catalytic moment that flips your story on its head. The inciting incident might be subtle—a missed train, a sudden letter, a chance encounter—or explosive—a death, a betrayal, a dramatic accident. In my novel, the event that really sets the story into motion is when my protagonist gets a new job as a waitress at a New England country club.

For some genres, especially for those of you writing literary or upmarket fiction, the stakes might feel a little low or more emotion-driven. But the scale of this moment doesn’t matter as much as the fact that it creates disruption and urgency. That’s your bread and butter, baby.

As you think about your inciting incident, ask yourself:

• Does this event put pressure on your protagonist’s yearning or desire?

• Does it begin to raise the stakes?

• Is it going to push your protagonists out of the “ordinary world” of Act One and into the “new world” of Act Two?

If you’re feeling stuck

Remember: Characters don’t always behave predictably. Up until now, you’ve been building out who your protagonist is. Now’s the time to let circumstances push them out of character. Put them under pressure. Let them surprise you. These disruptions are what make fiction feel alive!

So sit with today’s question: What moment shatters your protagonist’s world, and why can’t they go back? Write into the disruption. Write into the hesitation. Let your draft lean into the discomfort of change.

Happy writing!

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First Draft November is a free-for-all, month-long challenge for writers who are ready to get that novel they’ve been dreaming of on the page. Subscribe to get updates in your inbox!