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
Gun Before Butter
During the Civil War, the Gun Club became legendary for producing the most brutal weapons of all time. There's just one problem: Now that the conflict has ended, no one has reason to buy their cannons. Ugh, right? Fortunately, club president Impey Barbicane is here to save the day. His plan: to build a cannon that can reach the moon. Everyone supports the idea, but none more so than Barbicane's loyal friend J.T. Maston.
Rising Action
One Small Step
Now the Gun Club has to figure out how to actually accomplish this lofty lunar task. First, they settle on the cannon itself: It is to be built directly into the ground to minimize recoil. Next, they must choose a launch site. This leads to a fierce competition between the two leading candidates—Florida and Texas—but the city of Tampa in good old Florida ends up winning.
The Gun Club relocates to the Sunshine State to begin production, but there's a surprise waiting for them in the form of a telegram from a Frenchman named Michel Ardan, requesting that he be launched inside the cannonball.
Climax
Houston, We Have a Problem
Ardan is charismatic, intelligent, and fearless, so it doesn't take him long to convince Barbicane to modify the capsule to fit him inside. Meanwhile, Ardan is publicly confronted by Captain Nicholl, inventor of armored plates extraordinaire and longtime foe to Barbicane. The two long-time rivals decide to finally settle their beef with a duel just months before the launch-date. Luckily, Ardan and Maston arrive and stop the situation before it really starts. But Ardan has one more trick up his sleeve: He wants Nicholl and Barbicane to join him on his interstellar voyage.
Falling Action
Ready for Liftoff
The two former arch-enemies agree to join Ardan. After a few last minute tests—one involving a ravenous cat and Maston's prized squirrel (you can imagine how this ends)—the Gun Club readies the cannon. A massive crowd eagerly attends the launch ceremony. Finally, it's time for liftoff…
Resolution
Ain't No Sunshine When You're Gone
Things don't quite go as expected. First off, the shot causes a minor earthquake that knocks the spectators off their feet; then deadly weather pops up on the other side of the world. Plus, the sky is completely overcast for over a week, preventing them from tracking the flight of the capsule.
Finally, the clouds break and Maston records his observations: The capsule has missed its mark and is now orbiting the moon. There are two options—it will either orbit around the moon forever or slowly be pulled in by its gravitational field. And that's the end. What a cliffhanger.