20 quickly show that weakness to the audience. While it should be present at the beginning of the story, it is far less important than weakness and need.
Casablanca Rick seems not to want or need anything. But he is only hiding his need. He seems stronger than others, self-contained. While his cynicism does reveal
a man who is deeply troubled, he is the master of his world. He runs his club as a kind of benevolent dictator. He is also a man who controls women. And he is a man of extreme contradictions though he is now cynical, bitter, and often immoral, he was a freedom lighter for various good causes in the not-too-distant past. What is unique in this story
is that the main character, though very much in control, begins as an observer and a reactor. Rick is a man of great power and history, but he has chosen to withdraw from his
rightful domain in the world, back to his club in one of the world's lost corners, Casablanca and back into himself. Rick is a lion caged in a cell of his own making.
* Weaknesses Rick is cynical, disillusioned, reactive, and selfish.
* Psychological Need To overcome his bitterness toward Ilsa,
regain ab reason for living, and renew his faith in his ideals.
* Moral Need To stop looking out for himself at the expense of others.
* Problem Rick is trapped in Casablanca and trapped in his own bitter world.
4. Inciting Event
This is an event from the outside that causes the hero to come up with a goal and take action. The inciting event is a small step, except for one thing it connects need and desire. At the beginning of the story, when weakness and need are being established, the hero is typically paralyzed in someway. You need some kind of event to jump-start the hero out of his paralysis and force him to act.
KEY POINT To find the best inciting event for your story, keep in mind the
catchphrase "from the frying pan into the fire"
The best inciting event is one that makes your hero think he has just overcome the crisis he has faced since the beginning of the story. In fact, due to the inciting event, the hero has just gotten into the worst trouble of his life. For example, in Sunset Boulevard, Joe is an unemployed screenwriter. Two men come to repossess his car, so he takes off. Suddenly, his tire blows inciting event. Joe turns into Norma Desmond's driveway and thinks he has gotten away. In fact, he has just fallen into a trap from which he will never escape.
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