The Fighter

In screenwriting, we often call the tipping point the 'inciting incident' which is a fancy way of saying something happens in the story that spurs the character to make a choice that will ultimately put them on their journey. Once the choice is made and the wheels of their journey set in motion, this is ominously called the 'point of no return.' (Andrew Lloyd Webber fans, please refrain from belting Phantom until the end of the post. Thank you.)

In Beauty and the Beast, when Belle's father is imprisoned by the Beast, it is the inciting incident. Belle could choose to listen to her father's pleas to and leave him in the castle, but she chooses to stay with the Beast in exchange for his freedom. Thus begins the REAL story and journey for her character..In Little Miss Sunshine (I'm just picking titles of DVDs off my shelf right now...and my coffee mug) the inciting incident is Olive qualifying for the pageant. Then the family makes the choice to go on a literal journey that makes them all grown as individual units and together as a family.

What I'm saying here is that everyone has a tipping point, because life imitates art. It could be small or HUGE, but it is there. You just don't notice the patterns because you probably didn't study screenwriting. Or you're more mentally stable then I am and don't sometimes see yourself as a third party like a character in a script or book. EITHER WAY.

Opportunities for new stories are all around us. The start of your journey could be ANYTHING. Your alarm goes off late. You pick a new restaurant to eat at. You go to a poetry slam. You move to a new city. You could get a new pair of shoes and those shoes could CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
I know this is stupid coming from someone who has probably set 100 new years resolutions to date, but seeing the starting line in something OTHER than midnight on December 31st is a skill and a gift. Find the DO IT NOW instead of the 'starting tomorrow' state of mind.

Now before I start sounding like a motivational speaker with a soul patch and headset, I should probably get to why I'm bombarding you with elementary screenwriting lessons.

I've made it no secret here that I wanna lose weight and work out and blah blah blah. I've talked your ear off about it more than a handful of times. My problem now is that I need to find a new inciting incident. I need to start a new journey, because my character has undergone serious rewrites.

RILEY, 17 years old, 5'6 and 235lbs, uncomfortable in her own body and shy with a chronic addiction to hooded sweatshirts and a wild imagination.

has become

RILEY, 21 years old, 180lbs, a budding writer with an organization problem, an arsenal of bad puns, a smattering of tattoos and a little baggage about the weight she has not been able to drop since high school.

It's a different film. It's a sequel or a remake. I need to stop thinking of this as something I've been doing all along and look at it a clean slate and a new beginning. This isn't one long exhausting journey, this is a new opportunity to go to battle and kick ass. THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL. This time it's summer. University. Montreal. Bathing suits. Doing it while I'm young. While I have the time to commit to myself before school and work and everything swallow all of my attention. Building good habits and eating my vegetables.

This is just my personal problem, but like the plot building structure of film, you can apply it to anything. What's yours?

This is about picking your battles, taking up the boxing gloves and getting into the ring with the next opponent, even with the odds stacked sky high against you. Whether it's anxiety or 30lbs you want to lose or the boss you need to ask for a raise or the person you want to ask out. You are your own fucking hero, so go out, make your choice and start your journey. Now. RIGHT NOW! Find your fight and OWN it. That's what I'm gonna do. Hold me to it.