Plot - the 4 Mover/Shakers of a good one!

I'm a writer of stories. I put people in situations, place a number of obstacles (life-threatening or otherwise) in their paths, and then travel with them on the journey of overcoming them (or not).
Besides the description of places and people and things to set the scene for my characters, the most important thing to get my story moving is plot. What happens to whom; where and how; when and with what...

When I consider plot, I look at a number of elements:
1. Credibility: As much as I like to shock and surprise, whatever happens to my characters must be credible. If my story is about a cat.... the cat cannot go up to someone and punch them. Cats just wouldn't do that. I know that sounds really stupid but I'm exaggerating the point here in order to get it across. So, keep it credible. Imagine yourself in your characters shoes and ask the question 'Would they do/think/say that?'

2. Tension: Whilst I'm a huge fan of scary stuff, and creepy things, I quickly get bored of what I call 'gratuitous tension'. This is where the writer includes bog standard, nail-biting stuff that simply isn't credible (there's that word again), simply in an attempt to keep anxiety levels peaked. Example: Girl on her own in a house, bad storm outside, its dark. Hears howling wolves. Goes outside to check it out.... Now, who in their right mind would do that? I've immediately lost respect for her; she's an idiot!

3. Pace: My aim on each page is to get you to read it and turn it. I want you to be desperate to know where the story goes and what happens. Years ago, books were filled with flowery descriptions of hills and dales for three pages just to get you to picture the scene your character was sitting in on her picnic blanket. Today, in the digital age we live in, everything is more immediate. We want a lot of stuff to happen and not all in the last few pages.

4. Hook: I aim to put one at the end of each chapter. Its the question that fills your heart with dread at the thought of what might happen to the hero/heroine. Its the sentence that raises doubts as to the direction the character is taking. One of my favourite authors, Peter James, is a master at the cliffhanger hook.

Make no mistake, I do not consider myself a literary genius. I have read people who write well; who pen classics and become famous for them. So, you've picked up one of my books and you're reading it.... what's going to hold you? As much as I'd love it to be the fluid individuality of my prose, that is highly unlikely to be what grips you.

I'm counting on it being the story...