Nathan Bransford, agent and blogger extraordinaire, has started a discussion on the concept of the plot, and the fact that many people, when trying to describe the plot of their novel, just end up describing the hook or the theme instead. What’s the difference?
A hook is the unique part of your story that intrigues the reader and, hopefully, makes them want to keep reading along. A hook might read as:
A boy discovers one of his parents was an angel, while the other was a demon.
A warrior discovers a magic stone.
A woman realizes her dog can talk.
These tell about events, but no real plot. Then there are themes:
A boy discovers what it means to forgive his enemies.
A woman finds true love in the unlikeliest of places.
A man learns revenge isn’t worth the cost of his soul.
These tend to be the emotional “messages” within the story. Some might call them the take-away value, or the lesson. But still, they aren’t the plot.
So if none of those are real plots, what is?
Nathan describes it with this analogy:
Think of a book like a really big door, preferably one of those Parisian ones that are thick and heavy and last hundreds of years. Here’s how it breaks down. Bullet point time!
– The premise is what happens to knock the door ajar. Something sets the protagonist’s life out of balance. Preferably something really intriguing or like totally deep man.
– The climax is when the door closes. Maybe the protagonist made it through the door, maybe they didn’t make it through the door but learned a really great lesson about door closing, maybe the door chopped them in half.
– The theme is how the person opening the door changes along the way.
What’s the plot? The plot is what keeps the door open!! Why can’t that person close the door?
So take a look at your query letter, if you have one. Do you have the hook? That’s good. Do you tell the theme? That’s fine. But is the plot there? Do you give us the open door and let us see what is keeping it stuck open?
I see that smile.