A more suitable word for events which occur in a book/movie/etc

Sometimes the simple words might help: scene

I would tend to plump for chapter instead of scene, a scene typically has associations with a singular locale or directly continuous events revolving around a shared context, and is usually related to a theatrical (/film) production:

a division of a play or of an act of a play, usually representing what passes between certain of the actors in one place. ^source

Whereas a chapter describes a series of related events, which may or may not be represented with clear, enumerated divisions.

A distinctive period in history or A series or sequence ^source

Other alternatives could be: section, instalment, act, passage or phase

Depending on the medium, I've seen "beat" used for this purpose. (More commonly with movies.)

This is a great question, and I can't really think of a better term, either. Is using "event" so bad? You could also perhaps consider using alternative or roundabout phrasing in whatever it is you're writing. e.g. "These are the most important things which happened in the story."; "These things transpired"; "Following are the highlights of the story"; "Of all that befell our heroine, these are the most telling"; "most climactic/dramatic/adjective moments"

The equivalent unit to a chapter in a movie (or play, opera etc.; anything that involves live action or acting) is an act.

7 a : one of successive parts or performances (as in a variety show or circus)

_{Merriam-Webster}

Their usage note is narrow-sighted, in my opinion. See Wikipedia on Act (drama), especially the Other Media section.

I'm not sure if you're looking for singular or plural words, or if phrases/idioms are ok, but I tried to get a little more creative and just think in terms of events worth mentioning.

• The turning point, or change of course, the path, the experience. Maybe it was one of many twists in a winding tale of
• The development, the happening, the incident, the occurrence, the situation.
• The affair, the encounter, the meeting, the moment. the episode, the problem and solution.
• Others have mentioned these or their ilk: the chapter, the passage, the story, the period, the attack, the bout, the installment, the phase.
• Was it a wonder? A phenomenon? Perhaps a challenge? A great ordeal, affliction, or daresay a calamity! It may have been a torturous trial, a mere exigency, or depending on your perception, an opportunity.
• Whatever the case, I can only describe the circumstance. I couldn't tell you for sure if it was an anomaly, a portent, or mere normality. It was just one aspect, one facet, one feature.
• One venture, one unavoidable eventuality. Mere happenstance. Products of chance. All possibilities.

I was just trying to string related synonyms from random sites together, but perhaps one of them or just the tone will inspire you. Good luck on your travels!

"Plot point" sounded close to me initially, but various users observe that this specifically refers to direction-changing events.

After some consideration, I suggest plot element.

If you're talking about sections of the plot or segments of the story, you might look at a phrase like story arcs or plot arcs (the part where he's investigating before he finds what he needs to act, the bit where she's talking with someone before the story shifts, what's happening over the course of the party scene).

The phrase story arc can be used to talk about subdivisions in a story, or development of a plot over a longer timespan (several books or episodes). Narrative arc is another phrase, sometimes contrasted with the larger meaning of story arc - specifically smaller episodes if there is an overarching story, and sometimes used similarly to the smaller sense, to track the plot by often standard constructions. Plot arcs, is another version of the phrase.

These kinds of divisions work better with significant chunks of story-line, or the development of the whole of a subplot, rather than individual events - or it can be used to talk about the development that happened between significant events (minor plot event happened during the plot arc between...). Character arcs can also be used to talk about the development of a character, and their specific storyline or subplot, over the course of a larger work. Mini arcs might be used to show smaller segments of a story, events where things happen but on a smaller scale, even on a scene by scene basis. Subplots can act similarly, but involving small, almost separate plots interwoven through a larger work, rather than an episodic segment or scene of that work.

If you're talking about specific events, then Yitzchok's suggestion of plot element will work for smaller points, and MyLifeisanAbyss's suggestion of plot points works for more significant happenings. You might also try using just 'points' as an alternate to event for something that happens but need not be significant - the story had a point where (X), that point in which (Y), and Y happened at the other point. This will sidestep the way 'plot point' tends to be used for turning points more so than every separate happening in a story.

Dynamic: the situation or scenerio where things are changing and at play. For example: Now that the burglar knows that we are aware of his presence, the dynamic has significantly changed; The boy is becoming a man and the people who killed his father haven't detected the changing dynamic and the boy will take them by surprise.

Game-changer: the aknowledgment that the situation is in flux.