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To better understand rising action, consider the “Star Trek: The Original Series” episode “Mirror, Mirror” in which Captain Kirk and his landing party are transported into a mirror universe where the Federation is an empire and people behave more like pirates than civilized men. The opening few minutes of the episode in which Kirk and landing party, as being beamed aboard during an ion storm until realizing they’re no longer on their own Enterprise, marks the inciting incident. The rising action immediately begins as they try to resolve the problem of how to get home. First they must figure out where they are. Then Kirk must avoid an attempt on his life. Next his landing party must jury rig the transporter so they can be returned to their own universe. A race against time begins as they have a window of only a few hours to make the return beam out and as the mirror Spock has orders to kill Kirk by dawn. Then the mirror Spock and the mirror Sulu each try to kill Kirk. We reach the climax of the story when the mirror Spock cuts off their transporter power with only moments to go before their beam out window closes.

Kirk and his landing party face a number of obstacles that prevent them from resolving their central problem. Twists and turns, such as the attempt on Kirk’s life, add dramatic tension to the story. This tension grows until our heroes are faced with only two possibilities: either they will solve the central problem or utterly fail. At that point, the story enters its climax, usually near the story’s end.

Tags: central problem, climax, dramatic tension, inciting incident, plot, rising action

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In a sense, every story is a race against time. The main character ultimately must reach a point where the situation he finds himself in is unbearable, where a turning point or a final decision must be reached. The space between when this situation or crisis is introduced (the inciting incident) until when the turning point or final decision is reached (the climax) is known as rising action. Sometimes this part of the story is referred to as “complications.”

During the rising action, the main character tries to resolve his central problem but is unable to. The rising action includes the twist and turns of the story. In many ways, for the man character the rising action is like going up a hill - hence the “rising” – but he faces obstacles as doing so – hence the “action.” Each instance of the main character attempting to solve the central problem but failing is known as a “dark moment.”

Tags: central problem, climax, complications, dark moment, inciting incident, plot, rising action

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Often a story is not about defending the world from some outside menace (see out-of-whack event) or about obtaining some item (see macguffin) but is about overcoming some internal, man vs. himself struggle. In science fiction workshops, this type of storyline is called an emotional disturbance.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. define an “emotional disturbance” as “when a character’s inner state is unstable and he must do something to restore equilibrium.” In short, to solve the main problem of the story, the main character must undergo an inner journey of self-discovery and change.

A common example of an emotional disturbance is Luke Skywalker’s journey from self-doubting farm boy to a confident Jedi knight, as seen in “Star Wars IV-VI.” Skywalker garners skills and a deeper understanding of the universe – and himself along the way – through the mentoring of Obi-wan Kenobi and Yoda. These experiences cause him to grow intellectually and spiritually.

Tags: inciting incident, macguffin, main character, out-of-whack event, plot

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Not all stories are about restoring order in the universe or overcoming some personal conflict. Sometimes the plot revolves around the search for an item that will elevate the main character’s position in the world or will prevent an evil force from gaining the upper hand. This item is called a macguffin, a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock.

The macguffin could be a chalice that promises immortality (King Arthur’s holy grail stories), the One Ring (“Lord of the Rings”), a valuable piece of art (“The Maltese Falcon”), a magic jewel, a secret formula – anything that is so highly desired that it creates obstacles and challenges for the main character who tries to obtain it.

If using a macguffin in your story, two questions must be answered. First, why is the object valuable? If the importance (and usually the exoticness) of the object is explained, the reader will quickly lose interest as the story has little point. After all, every one of us spends time looking for mundane objects. A second question to answer is why are the characters motivated to obtain the macguffin? To say the object is valuable is not enough, for one man’s treasure often is another man’s junk. Usually a character needs some overwhelming reason to desire an object, such as the thirst for immortality or a desperate need for money.

Tags: inciting incident, main character, opening, plot, rising action

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One sign of a good opener is that it makes the reader want to continue with the story. Using a fishing metaphor, a good opener “hooks” the reader.

Writers who catch the reader have employed a successful narrative hook. A narrative hook involves dangling elements of the story before the reader so he can’t help but bite. This is done by making the reader want to know more - the who, what, where, when, how and why of the story.

Consider this story opener:

Jord ducked around the corner, pressed himself hard against the damp wall, wishing he could fade into it. His eyes darted toward the wall’s edge, hoping to catch the shift of a shadow, a movement of brush, any sign at all that they were close.

Notice how it dangles elements of the story. The reader wants to know why Jord is running and who is chasing him. The reader wants to know if Jord will get caught.

Successful narrative hooks usually begin the story in the middle of the action. Conflict already is underway. Beginning a story this way immediately creates dramatic tension, which for most readers is the delight of the narrative.

You Do It
Write a 50-word opening to a story in which you leave the reader asking “What will happen next?” and “Why is this happening?”

Visit my Web site about writing science fiction, Inventing Reality.
(c) 2008 Rob Bignell

Tags: dramatic tension, inciting incident, opener, opening line, plot

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Among the most important words in your story are the ones that begin it. Those words should get the reader to ask, “What’s going on here?” so he keeps reading. In a short story, the author usually only has a couple of sentences to make this happen; in a novel, a couple of paragraphs typically is the limit.

Your opening lines - also known as the grabber or narrative hook - need to deliver some vital information to readers as well. In most stories, the opening lines provide some striking situation that presents the reader with something unusual, and they usually introduce the main character, his conflict to be resolved and the setting.

There are a couple of ploys you can use to create gripping opening lines. First, show two seemingly disparate elements, such as “At 0150 Greenwhich Mean Time on December 1, 1975, every telephone in the world started to ring”, which Arthur C. Clarke uses in “Dial ‘F’ for Frankenstein.” Another ploy is to start with a “distancing move” that shows we’re in a different world, such as “The great eye floated in space”, in Ray Bradbury’s “The Lost City of Mars”. A third technique is to show your main character in a crisis or puzzling situation, such as “Why must they do it one December 28th? John Stapleton considered the question” as Theodore I. Thomas wrote in “December 28th”.

When writing your story’s opening lines, remember that they should:

n Be interesting and intriguing enough to draw reader in

n Be integral to the story, perhaps even holding key clues to how the main character will resolve the central problem by foreshadow the ending

n Establish, without much detail, the main character/protagonist and a problem or conflict that that the main character must resolve; in doing so, those lines shows the main character threatened and indicate what’s at stake for him

n Establish the setting, or at least the story’s place by establishing the scene of where the main character is

n Reveal the antagonist, if only vaguely

n Set the story's tone

n Give the reader a sense that the main character’s life began before the story did; as Ben Bova wrote in “Notes to a Science Fiction Writer”, “this helps convince the reader that … (the main character) is really alive”

You Do It
Create a list of potential opening lines for stories. Develop three for each of the ploys mentioned above (show two seemingly disparate elements, show we’re in a different world and show your main character in a crisis or puzzling situation.

Visit my Web site about writing science fiction, Inventing Reality.
(c) 2008 Rob Bignell

Tags: catalyst, grabber, inciting incident, narrative hook, setup, situation

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Virtually every story has a central character that spends the tale overcoming a major challenge. This character is called the protagonist.

Examples of well-known protagonists include Captain Kirk in “Star Trek: The Original Series” episodes, Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars IV-VI” and Paul Atreides in Frank Herbert’s “Dune”.

Usually the protagonist also is the viewpoint character, but not always. Stories told by a friend or assistant of the protagonist would be an example of this.

When writing a story, you want to think a lot about the protagonist. He’s the most important character of your story, after all, an ambassador of the author who is reaching out to the reader. Create a dull or a contradictory or an unlikeable protagonist, and your story will suffer. Because of this, many authors know far more about their protagonist than ever makes it in their story.

Tags: inciting incident, main character, viewpoint character

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