These are the basic parts of any story:
- Set up
- Conflict
- Resolution
These is how you can unravel those parts:
- Set up
- Inciting Incident
- Reaction
- Goal
- Conflict
- Climax
- Resolution
- (Option 1) Epilogue
- (Option 2) Set up
- (Option 2) Inciting Incident
That is a pretty good narrative structure to follow. There are others, but the overall idea is already here. But hey, let's take a look at another narrative structure.
Introduction. Yes, it is the set up. The normalcy, the characters in their everyday life, and the world. Everything. It serves to show who the characters are at the start and what their lives are like.
Inciting Incident. I already talked about this before. To sum it up, it's the one thing that disrupts the orden. From here on now the lives of the characters will be changed. Something will be different. Because of that there will be a need for action and it will lead the characters toward their goals.
Rising action. This one is an ongoing conflict. Only that it's slow brewing. Here we have an increasing number of problems for the characters. Depending on the kind of characters we are dealing with, those obstacles will represent only superficial problems, or they could represent a challenge that could lead to growth.
Dilemma. Here we have the characters having to make a choice. It's a subtler version of the conflict. Or maybe it's a second option. The highest point of conflict comes to someone taking action or not. This could work better for character driven narrative, where a fight looks out of place.
Climax. The grand moment of tension or realization that the rising action was leading to.
Resolution. So this is the moment the story unties itself. The tension is lifted. Things are back to normal. Or they could be very different, but that is the way things are after the changes from the story.