The inciting incident
The inciting incident is the event that sets the story in motion. This event makes the protagonist realize that their life is about to change. For memoir writers, the inciting incident is often a turning point in their life. This event makes them realize that they needed to make a change.
inciting incident with example
The inciting incident is usually the first big step on the protagonist's journey. It should happen early in the memoir. For example, let's imagine we are helping a lawyer structure her memoir about becoming a lawyer to help the underprivileged. Our protagonist tells the story that motivated her to become a defense lawyer. Her innocent mother went to prison because of a poor legal defense. The first act describes the action in scenes and the effect on her as she grew up with an incarcerated mother. In addition to scenes, she includes her responses to what happened. How she felt and how the feelings and events affected her world; skillful writing is showing, but it is also telling.
how to end the first act
The first act might end when the protagonist finally makes it to law school when she is 38 years old and has three children under ten. Her husband dies during her first month of law school (This crisis comes at the end of the first act.) Notice the first act won't include all the life details: this will be the story of becoming a practicing lawyer. The characters, settings, and events will be described within the action and the protagonist's reactions and analysis. The reader will want to know what happened to the mother as well as how a single mom with three kids finished law school. A good memoirist will use these unknowns to keep the reader turning pages.
The Rising Action
While plotting, determine the main events in your life and decide how they fit together to create a cohesive narrative. The rising action is the part of your story where you build up to the main conflict or climax. This is where you introduce your readers to the characters and setting and start to introduce the main conflict. You want to keep the reader engaged during the rising action so that they invest and engage in the outcome of your story. To do this, you can use suspenseful techniques such as cliffhangers or foreshadowing. Who and what is in the way of the protagonist’s goals? Keep the reader guessing as to what will happen next in your story, and make sure to pay off any loose ends by the end of the book.
The climax
The climax of a memoir is the most exciting, intense, and emotional part of the story. To write a successful memoir, it is important to know how to plot your life story. The climax should be the culmination of all the conflicts and challenges you have faced throughout your life. It should be the moment when you overcame your greatest obstacle or achieved your biggest accomplishment.
To write a successful memoir, you need to be able to identify the climax of your story. Think about the moments in your life when you felt the most alive, the most challenged, and the proudest. These are the moments that will make up the climax of your memoir.
For example, our lawyer's second act might end when one of her first cases involves defending a mom of three. The stakes would be high as the protagonist works to free her client and considers her mother's case and what is at stake for the children. We might imagine the climax as the afternoon when our lawyer successfully defends her client, with her client’s children, her children, and her mother in the courtroom.