Plot is not merely “a chronological arrangement of incidents” but a careful crafting of events so that they appear to be in “a causal and inevitable arrangement.” The plot of a story should represent a clear beginning, middle, and end, of the action according to Aristotle in his Poetics.
― A Handbook to Literature, 11th edition, by William Harmon
Shapes of Plots
Gustav Freytag’s pyramid is the most ubiquitous
visual representation of plot structure.
Example of a plot summary
(spoilers, of course)
Freytag’s Pyramid used to provide a
plot summary of George Orwell’s 1984
Other shapes of stories
Kurt Vonnegut lecturing on the shapes of stories
University of South Carolina Aiken Lecture Series
September 23rd, 1997
Etherredge Center, Aiken, SC