JaneEspenson.com

There is lightbulb in my closet that has needed replacing for – I’m not kidding – two months. Every day I think about taking five minutes and replacing it. But every day, I ask myself what makes today different from yesterday. In other words, “why now?” In the absence of some inciting incident, I seem to be powerless to act. (I might act immediately after the bulb goes out, but once that incitement has passed, I require a new incident.)

When you’re constructing a story for your script, you should assume that your characters are like me. If there’s no reason for your story to happen now, then you risk having it feel to the readers as if there’s no reason for it to happen at all. Make sure there’s an inciting incident, and make sure it’s strong, recent and compelling. Everything will work out much better and everyone will have a well-lit closet.

Lunch: salad bar and what was labeled “split pea soup,” but they must’ve split the peas on the atomic level because there was no particulate matter in it of any kind. It was a uniform green liquid. Hmmm. Can’t say I care for that.