For The Forgetful- The Complete Writer's Guide

One Narrative Order, With Fries

You're trying to make your plot flow, you need a set of events that make sense and will lead to a mind-blowing finale but everything you write feels messy and you can't really figure out where your characters are going. Help!

*neenaw neenaw* You're in need of a structured narrative.

A structured narrative could be described as an ordered set of events. Here are a few methods you can use as a template.

Aristotle thought it took a well-drawn plot(mythos) to make a great story  In his poetics, he also said your MC needs three things to really make the audience empathise: flaws, recognition, and reversal of that character. So you could have your main man in a pickle. He's afraid, but he realises he's got to overcome that, and thus he's used that flaw to his advantage.

He also thought there were only two basic kinds of plot; tragedy and comedy.
In Comedies, it begins with character separation(whether metaphorical or literal) and ends with a 'happy ending'.
Tragedies would begin with something good and end with it being ruined by either death or some other separation. 

But, uh, let's just say Aristotle isn't known for his comedies, eh.

Freytag on the other hand, was much more linear in his idea of how things should play out. 

You've got your Exposition- the reader sees how the main characters connect, and who they are. 

Inciting Incident- something happens to these characters which sets off a whole chain of events.

Rising Action-  In this part the MC learns what their goal is and begins the journey to achieving it, with smaller conflicts giving them trouble along the way.

Climax- this is the big kablammy. Your MC will make a big decision that'll determine the course of the story. It can also be a place where your character's attitudes change(a reluctant heroine might now sacrifice herself for the good of another or vice versa). Basically this is the big-bucks action sequence.

Falling Action- It seems the villain is winning. All secret subplots are being revelaed and everythign iscoming together, but the reader doesn't know what will happen yet. Build the tension here.

Denouement- The resolve for your character(s). The grand finale goes kaboom and the reader is left collapsing in their chair with either grief or relief. 'The end, or is it.'

Think of this structure as a pyramid. 

Finally, there's a mix of literary theorists who all thought pretty much the same thing. But this guy is the most relevant to narrative order:

Christopher Booker(ironic name)- there are seven basic plots( overcoming the monster, rags to riches, quest, voyage and return, comedy, tragedym rebith) but all rely on a META-PLOT which consisted of these ordered stages:-

  -anticipation stage(protagonist is called to the adventure)
  -dream stage(protagonist starts out and all is going well so he wrongly thinks everything's going to be all right)
  -frustration stage(protagonist confronts his first problem and realises mortality)
  -nightmare stage(all seems lost, the main climax, hero loses hope)
  -resolution(the protagonist overcomes all problems and is heralded for victory)

A good example of this structure is the entirety of Tolkien's Hobbit chronicles.

If you're one to outline the whole story beforehand, first get to grips with what you want to happen. Look at the logic of your sequence of events- why are things happening like this? Then understand your characters, and why they will do what they do. 

If you prefer to let everything fall into place as you go, that's fine. But once the first draft is done and you're editing, think back to this section and make sure things have happened as you want them to.