Can You Spot the Plot? 

Take a holiday from writing for a while, and pretend you're an agent at a prominent literary agency. Your job is to find the next bestsellers.  

You walk into a party, grab a drink, and join your friends before a roaring fire. Seven writers approach, eager to get your opinion of seven book ideas. You're in a good mood, so you settle into a comfy armchair and issue the rules: Each writer must describe his or her story in no more than two sentences. Go! 

Which storytellers have a plot and which ones have a flop?  

1. A boy finds a dog on the side of the road, frozen and close to death. He takes him home.

2. Pirates steal an abandoned British ship and sail it to their secret island.

3. At the close of WWII, a young nurse tends to a badly-burned plane crash victim. On his deathbed, he returns to his past, revealing a fateful love affair. 

4. High school friends reunite ten years after graduation. The two "losers" of the crowd are now millionaires. 

5. A civilian diving team who is searching for a lost nuclear submarine encounters an alien aquatic species. 

6. Two warriors, in pursuit of a stolen sword, and a gorgeous fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically-skilled nobleman's daughter who really hates men.

7. A retired cop builds airplanes out of newspapers and sells them on the Jersey shore.  

The plots? Numbers 3, 5 and 6. These brief lines describe a story. An agent can easily spot the journey. A will lead to B which will lead to C and so on. If written well, such ideas will sustain readers' interest throughout a book. 

The flops? Numbers 1, 2, 4 and 7. These brief lines describe a scene or two. Nothing more. There is no journey, there is simply an event. The boy takes the dog home—what's next? Pirates steal an abandoned ship; high school students reunite; retired cop sells airplanes—where's the conflict? These characters are simply idling. 

Characters must have a goal, and they must be willing to do something to attain it. That's a plot!