In fiction, a plot or storyline is the rendering and ordering of the events and actions of a story, particularly towards the achievement of some particular artistic or emotional effect. In other words it's what mostly happened in the story.

Story arc

Plot is often schematically represented as an arc reflecting the rising action described in the following phases:

1. Initial situation – the beginning. It is the first incident that makes the story move.
2. Conflict or Problem – goal which the main character of the story has to achieve.
3. Complication or Rising action – obstacles which the main character has to overcome.
4. Climax – highest point of interest of the story.
5. Dénouement or Resolution – what happens to the character after overcoming all obstacles and reaching his goal, or failing to achieve the desired result and not reaching his goal.
6. Conclusion – the end result

References

• Bickham, Jack M. (1993). Scene & Structure: How to Construct Fiction with Scene-by-scene Flow, Logic and Readability. Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books. ISBN-10: 0-89879-551-6.
• Edgerton, Les (2007), Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go, Cincinnati, OH: Writer's Digest Books, ISBN-13: 978-1-58297-514-6

from Wikipedia.org