This element of surprise or mystery the detective element as it is sometimes rather emptily called is of great importance in a plot.

We are all like Scheherazade's husband, in that we want to know what happens next.

The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot.

There are occasions when I would rather feel like a fly than a spider.

Then she lay on her back and gazed at the cloudless sky. Mr. Beebe, whose opinion of her rose daily, whispered to his niece that that was the proper way to behave if any little thing went wrong.

Long books, when read, are usually overpraised, because the reader wishes to convince others and himself that he has not wasted his time.

George had turned at the sound of her arrival. For a moment he contemplated her, as one who had fallen out of heaven. He saw radiant joy in her face, he saw the flowers beat against her dress in blue waves. The bushes above them closed. He stepped quickly forward and kissed her. Before she could speak, almost before she could feel, a voice called 'Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!' The silence of life had been broken by Miss Bartlett, who stood brown against the view.