The purpose of a plot

So this week as I was going over the book I am writing with Liz, I started to notice how important plot is. I started my book with a reletively undeveloped plot. I knew the basic parts of my work and that seemed to be enough. I tossed most if my writing from then. I was writing without purpose. Eventually, as my characters developed, I started to see where they wanted to go. For example, my one character, Ryan was supposed to be a secret admirer who stayed in the shadows. When my *ahem* friends insisted that I kill Ryan, he insisted that he wanted to live. He then decided that he was such a nice guy that I needed a brand new character to fall for him. Interestingly enough, it filled some of my plot holes to add a new person. So I gained some new purpose for my characters. If you are writing something this week, pay attention to the plot and the purpose in the plot.