the difference between action and plot

Still struggling with the difference between action and plot. Okay, action is simple. Three kids go surfing. One gets hit on the head and the other two have to rescue him. Action. But, how does this fit with the plot. Maybe the plot of the story is that these three boys find a starving whale and have to figure out why. They discover someone's dumping chemicals into the bay, and have to stop them. Plot. But that plot needs some action. It takes place in a bay, so how did the boys find the whale? Maybe they were surfing. See what I'm getting at here? Sometimes action has to come in and back fill the plot. Fill it up. Make finding out stuff exciting. So even if the plot's not about something like finding dying whales, but more like discovering that someone you love is being hurt, something we might not see a lot of, because these things take place behind closed doors, there still has to be action to keep the story active and alive as we uncover the little clues that show us the plot. Am I making any sense here? Does this sound even remotely right? Or have I got it all wrong?

Here's another example. I'm working on a story in which a 12 year old girl learns about corruption. This is a story that could have many different plots. It's not an action story; it's more of a coming of age story. So how to build a plot full of action, so that it's not a boring snore while we learn what she learns? I've decided to set the story within two families, one of which is big and has a lot going on like weddings and birthdays. Lots of possibilities for action. But the plot takes place above all that. It slides into the action obliquely, letting hints fall here and there, until she pulls it all together and understands the big picture.

But then maybe I'm making things more difficult than they should be. Maybe plot and action are the same thing and I'm just making work for myself. Thoughts?

StormTide spoiler

Someone asked me just now in Facebook for a plot summary of Storm Tide, so here goes:

It's the story of a boy living on Discovery Island with his lighthouse keeping family and an adventure he has in which he saves a drowning man, solves and riddle, and finds treasure. Ask for it at your local bookstore. (Thereby supporting both writers and independent bookstores) They should be able to order it for you. If not, let me know and I'll get one for you from here.

By the way, that's a photo of the real Discovery Island lighthouse. I started writing Storm Tide after seeing this and imaging what it would have been like to be a lighthouse keeper living in a house like that before it was closed.

Storm Tide

Storm Tide arrived in the mail today. The real thing. The copy that's going into bookstores. Yep, a bookstore near you. Somehow it feels different than the advance copy. More finished. Time to go celebrate. Yahoo.

why three heads are better than one

Today I and two of my writer friends got together for a plot clinic. We didn't know that's what we were doing; we thought we were just gathering for our usual writing group meeting,but we were all too tired to write, so we decided to help each other out with plot instead, and between the three of us, we solved each of our plot problems.

Each of us had ideas the writer of the story couldn't see. So good to have three heads instead of one!

A plot strategy that I've found useful (and thanks to my friend Alex for this), is a little story that goes like this:

Protagonist gets into a situation
the situation becomes a problem
the problem gets worse
the protagonist almost solves the problem, but not quite
the problem gets worse
the protagonist solves the problem.

When I'm struggling with plot, I always fall back on this. Thanks Alex.

Sending the manuscript

Finally, I got the manuscript finished and sent away. What a great feeling it is to have it done, to feel good about it (I mean it seems active and gripping to me) and to be waiting for a response. Anything is possible now. I love that feeling.