Elements of Plot

In a narrative or creative writing, a plot is the sequence of events that make up a story, whether it’s told, written, filmed, or sung. The plot is the story, and more specifically, how the story develops, unfolds, and moves in time. Plots are typically made up of five main elements:

Exposition

Rising Action

Climax

Falling Action

Resolution

At the beginning of the story, characters, setting, and the main conflict are typically introduced. This introduction to important background information is called exposition.

Rising action consists of the growing conflicts in the story. This is where the story builds. The rising action is most of the story.

The protagonist (main character) is in crisis and events leading up to facing the conflict begin to unfold. The story becomes complicated.

The climax is the turning point of the story. This is the highest point of action in the story. At the peak of the story, a major event occurs in which the main character faces a major enemy, fear, challenge, or other source of conflict. The most action, drama, change, and excitement occurs here.

The falling action happens after the big event (climax) and leads to the resolution. The story begins to slow down and work towards its end, tying up loose ends.

The resolution is the end of the story and gives insights to what happens to the characters as a result of the conflict being solved.