Young Writers Society

Hey YWS, my question is on subplots. A friend of mine told me not to just tell the main story, but to tell subplots along the way, because it adds more depth to the book. What are your thoughts on subplots?

Subplots can enrich a story, but they can also make it an absolute mess. The thing about subplots is that they have to tie into the main storyline or another subplot in some way at some point in the story's progression. If you have subplots that don't tie in, you get dead ends that only clutter up the story, which means a whole lot of words spent not saying anything important, and that's a waste. It's also really frustrating for readers if subplots don't get resolved, especially if those subplots just evaporate into nothing.

So, basically, the answer is "How many subplots can you manage?" Not all stories need subplots, and some story types don't work well with subplots, such as short stories in general (though there are exceptions). Generally, longer works tend to have more subplots, so if you're writing a longer work, it's worth considering if you need to add subplots, or if you already have some subplots that you haven't noticed. Really good subplots naturally fit into the story, and sometimes they just appear without you intending to include them.

You might want to take a look at your story and see if you don't already have a few subplots hidden in there already.

Depends on how long you want the story to be.

If you're telling a short story, you'll often only have room for a single plot. A novella has room for a few more subplots, a novel has room for more than a novella, and an epic series has room for lots and lots of subplots.

For me, I crave subplots in longer works because they make the world feel more real. Subplots come from the characters interacting with people around them, and when you've got characters only focusing on the main plot then you start coming off as unrealistic. Would your friendship with somebody you're forced to quest with honestly never change? Or would you interact, get to know each other, potentially have fights because you've got different views? I'm guessing the latter. Those interactions, in turn, make a subplot. Multiply that by a few more interactions with important people in the characters' lives, and you have multiple subplots that all give the characters a life outside the main plot and add depth to the characters involved, because you find out who they are in other situations.

Keeping the subplots to within what impacts the main characters helps keep subplots manageable, as Kyll said. I tend to work from the main characters, out, which allows for maximum relevance.

You also have to be careful that subplots don't take over the main story. The most common of this is the romantic plot tumour, where a love story gets to be more important than the primary plot. The main plot is the main plot for a reason, and you should be careful subplots never get more important than the main plot. If you find yourself more interested in the subplot over the main plot, consider changing the story to focus on the subplot you really like and make the main plot a subplot, simply to keep yourself (and readers) interested.

Just to add on some more, I'm picturing subplot as being very different when it comes to what kind of book you are writing.

In smaller, more condensed stories, I would use subplots very closely to the main plot. I'd tie it to characters or events close to the main character and in the end it would both enrich and give more personality and gain to the character. Be it some sort of romance, personal history being worked out or looked into etc.

For bigger stories, you can really let loose with your subplots. As long as it's interesting and of relevance, I don't see how you shouldn't run with it. I find it hard to visualize a subplot thrumping the main plot.

For example; Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings' is a large epic. With room for a lot of subplots. In it, the main plot is, obviously, Frodo's journey to destroy the one ring. And then everything builds up around it. Which is necessary for such a big world to come to life. (Not Tom Bombadil though, I'd almost consider him a plothole O.o)

Sub plots are very easily one of the most misused concepts in writing. People often use them in an attempt to make your writing more interesting, but instead end up with a lot of plot holes and loose ends because it didn't all tie together. If you're going to use subplots (which, it really depends on the story if they work or not), try to forsee any plot holes and spend time fleshing all your ideas out.

Things that can contribute to the subplots not working out is not plotting well/ not having enough time to get all your plot out on paper. Making long complicated plots is hard because often it takes forever to make them all work out. If you're going to subplot, take length into consideration. Do you plan on making your novel (I'm assuming it's a novel because you hardly ever see a short story with multiple plots) a series? How long do you plan on it being? Do you plan on resolving the plots altogether, one at a time or a few at a time? At what points will all the arcs come together and make sense? Will they cross over and have influence on each other, or be completely separate? When will you introduce all the subplots? All together at the beginning, or as the story progresses? Do your subplots add to your main plot? Do they have the potential to take it over?

These questions are very important and some, if not all, need answered before you can truly decide whether sub plots will work with your novel or not.

It really depends. In a short book, no more than three or four, but if you are doing something incredibly intricate, and you are a good enough storyteller, you may be able to pull off up to ten, but, in my opinion, that is beyond pushing it.