So to write a story that's not plotty at all, you have to assume that they aren't part of a larger world? That there is nothing outside the situation?

For me it's a vibe issue, and tough to define exactly. (I very much like connie's definition, FWIW.) It's not so much that there isn't a larger world but whether or not it matters to the characters.

It's not so much that there isn't a larger world but whether or not it matters to the characters.

Ooo! I like this.

It's not so much that there isn't a larger world but whether or not it matters to the characters.

Ooo! I like this.

Yes-- put that way, it feels like it works.

Works for me.

Is there a thought going on that plotty is better than non-plotty? That plottiness is something that should be worked towards? I'm wondering at the provenance of the original question.

Hah, used provenance in a sentence, yay, me.

So... thinking about this some more, though maybe I should stop while I'm ahead... if the plot or action takes place just to give the writer a chance to see what happens to the characters, that wouldn't seem terribly plotty to me. Hurt/comfort, for instance, can have oodles of stuff happening, even fairly complex series of events, but mostly I wouldn't call it plotty. It's All About Them.

if the plot or action takes place just to give the writer a chance to see what happens to the characters

But if you're not in the writer's head, you can't tell -- surely the estimation should be from the reader's POV.

I know, for many stories that live in my head, that I have an emotional beat sheet, and an event beat sheet. Half the time I don't know which drives which -- but if I come up with a intricate and compelling sequence of events that works well with what I really want to do -- get her from emotion A through F -- it still might be a plotty story. Or vice versa.

Ooo, Plot in Service to the Emotions vs. Emotions in Service to the Plot!

Episodes of hurt/comfort in the context of a larger story score higher on the plotty scale (heh, she said score [my god, where is my head today?]) than a series of events designed to bring about a hurt/comfort scenario. That said, I have to admit that h/c is my favorite guilty pleasure genre.

But if you're not in the writer's head, you can't tell -- surely the estimation should be from the reader's POV.

Oh, sure, it's all completely subjective on my part.

a series of events designed to bring about a hurt/comfort scenario

But how can you tell how/why they were designed? It could just be crappy writing that makes you think that.