Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition (Initial Situation)
Rollin' in the Dough
In the beginning, we meet Timon, who is crazy generous with his money. He showers his friends with jewels, expensive gifts, and elaborate dinners for no reason at all. Timon loves his friends more than anything else in the world.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
Bills, Bills, Bills
Timon thinks he's filthy rich, but his steward Flavius isn't so sure; he wants Timon to cut the over-the-top spending. Timon will have none of it: he wants to show his buddies how much they mean to him. We learn that bills are rolling in, but money is not. Uh-oh.
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
A True Friend Is Hard to Find
A bunch of Timon's debtors start coming around to collect. Timon wants to pay them, but he can't stretch his dollars far enough. When he asks his friends to spot him, they all refuse. He's in way over his head with loans, and he can't pay up. He loses everything, including his friends.
Falling Action
Fool Me Twice, Shame on Me
Timon retreats to a cave in the woods where he finds gold. (Yeah, it's as random as it sounds.) Timon, however, is not excited: instead, he laments the fact that gold just brings out the worst in people. He decides to give some gold to people who are either (1) loyal and honest or (2) ready to take down Athens. It turns out that the list of people who meet these criteria isn't a long one.
Resolution (Denouement)
A Grave Man
Alone, cynical, and spiteful, Timon focuses on the only thing left that can give his life meaning: his epitaph. Meanwhile, Alcibiades surrounds Athens and makes his and Timon's enemies surrender. He promises to bring a new kind of law and order to Athens. He reads aloud Timon's epitaph and claims that Timon will be remembered.