How Important are the First 10 Pages REALLY?
If you start learning how to write, at some point you’ll come across ‘the first ten pages’. This is, apparently, the paradigm page count to hook your audience and make all the necessary promises to keep them hooked for the duration of your story.
But, how true is it?
What really happens on the 10th page? How much to we really know?
DUNKIRK
Has the ‘Inciting Incident’ Happened Yet?
Arguably, there’s three inciting incidents in Dunkirk, as there’s three specific story threads for audiences to follow. While both ‘Land’ and ‘Air’ have had their inciting incidents by the tenth page, the ‘Sea’ thread is mid-way through its own inciting incident.
What Happens?
Mr Dawson’s boat, the Moonstone, prepares to set sail, anxious to get going before the Navy commandeer the vessel. Meanwhile (or, not meanwhile, as we’ll later learn), the spitfire pilots lament the positioning of the stranded soldiers and we learn of the potential difficulties facing whoever is able to rescue the stranded soldiers at Dunkirk.
How Much do we Know?
By this point, we know the film is split into three distinct storylines; Land, Air, and Sea.
The three Spitfire pilots are flying towards Dunkirk to offer some limited air support. We also know they have a limited amount of fuel to do so.
The civilian boat effort will be charted from the perspective of Mr Dawson, his son, and his sons friend as they travel from Weymouth to Dunkirk to save who they can.
And, of course, there’s ‘Tommy’, who is the audiences eyes and ears of the perspective of boots on the sand at Dunkirk. From his perspective we know there are thousands of troops, mostly British, stranded on the beach of Dunkirk, kept there by artillery and mortar fire from all directions by the unseen Nazi forces. There’s an enormous animosity between ranks and peoples, as ranks close against would-be outsiders trying to piggyback off of their potential survival. Tommy himself has helped silent Gibson bury a French man’s body and is now trying to find his way onto a medical ship he shouldn’t be on, but may be the very thing that ensures his survival.
CHALLENGERS
Has the ‘Inciting Incident’ Happened Yet?
Challengers doesn’t really have an ‘inciting incident’ per se, but put a gun to my head and I’d say “yes, it happened on page 7 when Tashi signs Art up to the challenger, please don’t shoot me!”
In an academic sense, this is correct. That is the moment that sets the story in motion, kind of. The thing is, we’re already watching the challenger that she’s potentially signing him up to. And, if anything, this is the fourth act low point for Art’s character, not the inciting incident.
But, for the sake of this article, yes, the inciting incident does happen in the first ten pages.
But also, no it doesn’t.
What Happens?
Page 10 itself charts the moment where Patrick is forced to sleep in his car the night before sign-ups for the challenger. He’s ‘mistaken’ for a homeless man sleeping in the car park before being welcomed in to sign up. Once inside, he’s instantly recognised as a significant player.
How Much do we Know?
At this point in the script, we know where the story ends. It ends with a tennis match, a challenger, between Art and Patrick. We know their names, we know where they are in life. Art is one of the best players in the world, feeling like it’s time to retire, while Tashi remains solely focused on Tennis and pursuit of greatness. Meanwhile, Patrick is genuinely down on his luck, living in his car while travelling from challenger to challenger, trying desperately to prove he still has ‘it’.
INSIDE OUT
Has the ‘Inciting Incident’ Happened Yet?
Page 10 ends with the line: “After all, Riley’s 11 now. What could happen?” It’s the exact moment the inciting incident occurs.
So while, for the purpose of this article, no the inciting incident hasn’t happened yet, it is an example of absolute pacing perfection in a screenplay opening.
What Happens?
Page 10 shows the early part of Riley’s life settling down. Playing hockey with family, being tucked in at night, and plenty of the gold memory orbs the audience recognises as joyful memories earned from Joy’s hard work.
There’s such a perfect balance even Fear can’t find anything to be scared of.
As Joy asks the fateful “what could happen?”, smaller memories of the day cascade towards long-term memory.
How Much do we Know?
As previously mentioned, Inside Out is an exercise in pacing perfection. By the end of page 10 we know our protagonists live inside the head of a little girl. We know their defining features, and the central conflict.
We also know about the little girl whose head they live in, and how the actions of the protagonists affect her.
We know the basic geography of the mind, which will be important later, and we know the basic lore behind how memories work.
That’s a lot to cram into 10 pages of a script mainly aimed at children, yet Inside Out does it effortlessly.
(It wasn’t effortless, it took months/years of work from very talented writers working at the top of their game – but you know what I mean)
HERETIC
Has the ‘Inciting Incident’ Happened Yet?
Yes, without question. If an inciting incident is defined as the moment the trajectory of the story changes forever, then without question the inciting incident has happened. The moment Mr Reed opens his door on page 9, the story of Heretic is going in only one direction.
What Happens?
Having opened the door on page 9, page 10 of Heretic is essentially a one minute long introduction.
Throughout the whole exchange, nobody is really sure what to make of anyone. But, as the Mormon girls make themselves clear in their intentions, responding to his own request for information, the mood lightens.
How Much do we Know?
Plot-wise, we know very little at this point. All we know is that these two Mormon girls are responding to a request for information from a ‘Mr Reed’. While they’ve been advised not to go by their superiors, which only inspires one of the girls, Paxton, to try even harder to convert him.
What we do know is wrapped up mostly in character and theme. We know, for example, that our two main protagonists are Mormon missionaries. We’re told through their initial conversation the central theme of the script. As they discuss the validity of the Magnum condom and the marketing campaign that inspires belief in their enormity, we know that they’re actually discussing the wider issue of being challenged in their beliefs.
As they wander the streets, we know that, despite their close Mormon community, their faith isolates them from the rest of the world. To the world, they’re either a novelty or to be ignored.
And, of course, we know that, for some reason, they shouldn’t be going near Mr Reed’s house.
CONCLUSION
So, how important are the first ten pages? In short, very.
From the examples above, hopefully you’ll see how, at the tenth page mark, your reader should be hooked into the world, the themes, and the story of your script.
But, how important is the tenth page itself?
It isn’t.
You could, as Pixar did with Inside Out, orchestrate your whole script to end the tenth page on an exciting question, urging the reader to carry on. Alternatively, it could be completely innocuous, a continuation of established drama as it is in Dunkirk. You could even, as in Challengers, use the tenth page to explore some antithetical character or story to that of your protagonist.
Your tenth page could end mid-scene, or wrap it up with a neat bow before the eleventh page begins.
You could have introduced every single element of your worldbuilding, or simply alluded to it.
There are no rules except one:
If your reader doesn’t feel like they’re in confident, capable hands by the end of page ten, they won’t continue reading.
