One of the most common structures is the three act structure. Most stories follow some derivative of this structure. The first act of the three act plot will introduce the stories main characters and introduce the first source of conflict. The second act will focus, which will make up most of the story, will build up the emotions of the characters introduced as well as intensify the conflict at the center of the story. The third act will resolve this conflict, or leave it unresolved but develop the story in other ways.
Writer Nigel Watts has proposed a new way to approach story structure. He suggests that stories are made up of eight essential points. These are stasis, the trigger, the quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, reversal, resolution. Each of these points develop the story and the characters further than the last, while presenting additional obstacles until its ultimate resolution. The eight point structure should be thought of as a loose checklist to check the details of your story against and not a rigid set of rules.
A frame story begins and ends with a scene that takes place after the events, which are recalled by one of the characters in the frame. One popular use of this structure is to have an older person tell a story to his child or grandchild, recalling the events of his past. No matter how it is executed, the majority of the story will be told through a classic three act structure, but will be grounded in a beginning and end that may add some depth to the overall narrative.
A non-linear story will typically be told by a third person, omniscient narrator who chooses to tell the story out of order for reasons that contribute to the overall story. The narrator may engage with time shifts directly, by explaining that an event occurred before or after the current one, or indirectly through dialogue and setting descriptions. This structure can be done in first person, but only in the form of memories and imaginings of the future.