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Which indicates much of what is wrong with the book business. Please explain to me the "inciting incident" in, say, ANY of John Cowper Powys's books. EG Maiden Castle. The whole concept is against stories in which a normal life gradually disintegrates under a gradual onslaught of small things.

I haven't read his books, but I've also come across very very few books without an inciting incident. It could be that his are subtle. I'll have to pick one up!

25/4/26, 6:03 pm0 reposts0 likes

Clive Warner

@adventurist.bsky.social

Another example: The Hours, which was a NYT best seller. I read it; it was terrible. All I recall is that the whole book was people talking in a room until at the end, one of them throws himself out the window.

darlingaxe.comStory Skeleton—To the LighthouseBut does this count as plot? Doesn’t plot require a protagonist? Doesn’t plot require an inciting incident, an arc, and a climax?

Okay, The Hours. No idea. It looks very experimental, which makes sense given the Woolf inspiration. To the Lighthouse is also a doozy. There is a plot, but it's very hidden. Not even the protagonist is certain. Here's my take: darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/t...

Clive Warner

@adventurist.bsky.social

Yes! I'd have to review my library to find more... I recall being so disgusted with The Hours that I put it in the garbage. I just recalled another! A novel from CA that I bought in a San Francisco used bookstore. Just meandered along. Can't recall the title though Oh - how about Gravity's Rainbow?

26 Apr

There are definitely books out there that challenge the norm. The issue I'm talking about re agents involves books that are breaking norms but without intentionality. Like the story just hit the page that way. Early draft stuff that hasn't been ironed out.

26 Apr

Another odd one for sure! Haven't read it but was just talking to someone about it. Apparently it's episodic, so each episode presumably has a mini arc, and thus its own inciting incident.