Here we represent the simplest most abstract version of a story. A character in a place and time takes action that has consequences. There is much more to be said about each of these components of story.
Since my main concern is with narrative nonfiction, I reference Story Craft 
by Jack Hart.
"Bob fell overboard and never surfaced." is a sparse but structurally complete story.
Here we explore story as a network model that answers the Six Nested Questions in narrative form.
# Narrative Components
**SETTINGS** (PLACE/**WHERE?**, TIME/**WHEN?**, CULTURE, MOOD)
**STAGE and STAGING**
**CHARACTERS** (PEOPLE & ORGANIZATIONS/**WHO?**, ACTORS, ROLES, MOTIVES/**WHY?**)
**SCENES** (EPISODES, SEQUENCES OF: PEOPLE/**WHO?**, PLACE/**WHERE?**, INCREMENTAL ACTION/**WHAT?**)
**PLOT** (CHANGING MOTIVES/**WHY?**, CHANGING ACTION (causes and effects), CHANGING STRATEGY-TACTICS/**HOW?**, CHANGING TIME/**WHEN?**)
**LEARNING** (OUTCOMES, REALIZATION, INSIGHT)