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
Waah! That's Not Fair!
Tilja lives in the peaceful Valley, but, one morning, her mama goes missing. It turns out she went to practice magic in the woods, which she's done for years, but got knocked out. The ability to speak to the cedar trees passes from mother to daughter in Tilja's family... but it turns out Tilja didn't get the ability to speak to the trees—her sister, Anja, did. Tilja feels really left out—she'll have to move away one day, while Anja gets to stay and hang out with the trees.
Just like that, we know our heroine—Tilja—and we know that she's going to get propelled out into the world.
Rising Action
It's Off to Faheel We Go
The action's on the rise here, boosting Tilja out of her world and into another to solve a problem. Her job isn't that easy, and she comes across a lot of people that want to do her wrong and stop her from completing her mission. Tilja's home in the Valley is shut off from the evil Empire and marauding horsemen by magic.
Centuries ago, Tilja's ancestor (and another guy) went to the magician Faheel to get him to put a spell on the Valley to keep it safe, but the powers are fading—so Tilja, her grandmother, Meena, and the other dude's descendants (Alnor and his grandson, Tahl) journey into the dangers of the Empire to find Faheel and get him to save the Valley.
It takes them a while to find the mysterious magician—and once they do so, Faheel agrees to help… but Tilja needs to help him first. Her own powers have been revealed—she can conceal or mute other people's magic—so they need to go to the capital of the Empire, Talagh. There they'll rescue a magician that Tilja met briefly—named the Ropemaker—from the Emperor and get him to take on Faheel's powers so Faheel can finally relax. So off they go to Talagh, where they organize a revolt, destroy the Emperor's evil magicians, and free the Ropemaker.
Climax
Secrets, Secrets, Are Really No Fun
This is the big moment, the point when everything looks like it's going to go wrong for our heroine. Faheel sails off into the sunset on his raft, leaving Tilja to find the Ropemaker and give him the ring. Oh—but she can't tell anyone about the ring. And there's evil Moonfist trying to track her down and take the ring from her. What's a girl to do?
They trek home—with Meena and Alnor now teenagers again crushing on each other aftering being made young by Faheel's magic grapes—and come across a series of obstacles (i.e., a magical forest, a rogue Watcher), but it's nothing that they can't handle. This is until they get to the forest bordering the Valley—and Moonfist and the Ropemaker show up.
Moonfist demands the ring, but Tilja refuses to give it to him. He tries to absorb her Tilja-ness into himself, taking away her identity—but Tilja won't let the powerful magician take her away, and she clings to a defining moment on Faheel's island to defeat to maintain control. But it's too late—mean Moonfist has burnt up Meena, Tahl, and Alnor.
Falling Action
Burnt to a Crisp
After this big event, the author allows us to catch our breath for a minute. The action gets a bit slower and the events from the climax begin to be resolved. Tilja is distraught—her grandma and BFFs are dead and gone—but then the Ropemaker saves the day by turning back time so Tilja can save her friends. Tilja gives him the ring and he takes on this great magical responsibility. She hopes to come back to the Empire one day and see the Ropemaker again. Until then, she knows his secret name (Ramdatta).
Resolution
Valley Girls
This is the wrap-up, tying all the loose ends of the story into a neat bow and making sure our heroes have a happily ever after of some sort. Calico has become a winged horse—Tahl and Alnor hop on and fly to Woodbourne, then to help the men of the Valley in a battle against the Imperial troops. Thanks to their help, the bad guys leave the Valley once again.
Tilja and Meena arrive home at a slower rate, to their family's delight, and Tilja tells everyone about their journey. In particular, she tells Anja—whose descendants will need to get in touch with the Ropemaker—and gives her his name. Meena and Alnor sadly have to become older again, but hopefully their love will endure.