” A novel can be set in motion by an incident, a character, a location, a mood,  by anything at all Sometimes the stimulus can be an idea, which will rapidly clothe itself in a character.” Cynthia Ozick

• The inciting incident happens in the first act.
• The inciting incident happens to the protagonist.
• The protagonist is usually passive at this juncture; the inciting incident is generally set in motion by someone or something else (a letter, a visit, an encounter)