Preptober: Much Ado about Subplots

What are they? Do you need to plan them? How do they relate?

Subplots are a tricky business. Every beat sheet defines them differently. Every author and writing post defines them differently. Some, like K.M. Weiland, don’t like the idea of subplots at all:

I don’t want subplots in my stories. I don’t want to hand readers a jumbled box full of really cool odds and ends. Instead, I want to give them one big cohesive plot that sparkles like a multi-faceted diamond.

Others, like Blake Snyder (who “invented,” or at least named, Save the Cat), talk about the “B Story” as a necessary element of any book:

Theme Stated/B Story must be addressed in your story. If your movie isn’t “about” something, why write it? And when you find out what it’s about, say it, right up front, then use the B story to talk about it. The B story is the “helper” story, and helps the heroes of the A tale transform.

But really, they’re both saying the same thing. Plot is what happens in your story. Subplot is what your story is about.

I’m certainly not qualified to give a definitive answer on subplots — no one is, I think, and every writer is different — but here’s what I’ve found to work both in my own writing and in the stories I look at in my day job as an editor.

Subplots should be necessary to the main story, and focus on going deep, rather than wide.

Creating Necessary Subplots

Plot threads don’t exist in a vacuum. As Susan Dennard discusses, the emotions from one scene propel a character into the next scene, even if the two scenes are from different subplots. They domino, and we see the effects play out even in wildly different arenas.

Beyond the ways subplots affect emotion, though, subplots also must affect one another. They should bump up against one another — when the love interest shows up at the coffee house where the main character works, or when a parent grounds them for an action they did in subplot 1, and it affects their ability to work on the main plot. Or — as is common in so many made-for-TV Disney channel stories — the Big Game and an event that the main character really cares about are scheduled for the same day at nearly the same time.

But more than anything, the subplots should change something about how the main character views the main plot. Often this means learning an emotional lesson through the subplot that helps them see a new way of looking at the main plot.

Ask yourself

1. Do the subplots in my story overlap and cross-cut so characters from one subplot appear in other subplots as well?
2. Do the subplots in my story affect one another? Are there consequences and emotions that spill over from one line into the next?
3. How does the main conflict change as a result of this subplot?

Going Deep vs Going Wide

It can be easy to get distracted by all the things your characters could do. The relationship with the mother figure, the crappy boss at work, the gymnastics skill they’re trying to learn, the next door neighbor’s dog about to give birth… in any given life, these are all happening at the same time. And if you’re one of the authors who builds rich worlds and character backstory as you write, you likely know about all of these things for your characters.

But not all of them will add to your story. In fact, the wrong ones will take away from the message. Even in complex, epic stories, the goal is to create depth rather than cast a wide net.

When we’re worldbuilding, we’re basically being magicians. We need to provide the illusion that there’s a whole world out there — background characters with complex and interesting lives, technology and creatures and history that seem like they extend beyond the pages of the story.

We’ve talked about this before in terms of dialogue, but it’s true in subplots too. As we’re looking, we want to create the illusion of width by adding depth. Layers. Complexity without complications.

Instead of talking about everyone in a neighborhood, talk deeply about a few people, and use some of the tricks from the linked post above to create the illusion of the same depth in everyone. Instead of talking about the main character’s relationships with everyone they’ve ever known, focus on the relationships that most tie in to your theme, provide the most insight (or perhaps an example of what not to do) into the main problem, or allow the most opportunities for complications to the main plot.

Ask yourself

1. Do my subplots focus on going deep with a few characters or ideas, rather than trying to get a shallow look at everything?
2. How do my subplots provide commentary on the main plot?
3. Can I know more than I put on the page, and allow the hint at depth to create the illusion of a full world?

Much Ado about Subplots

Since I’m working on a loose retelling of Much Ado about Nothing for NaNoWriMo this year, let’s look at Shakespeare’s classic story.

In the main plot, Hero and Claudio are set to marry, and Don John decides to ruin their happiness.

This is the main plot of the original story because the turning points of Much Ado all relate to what happens here: Hero and Claudio meeting, then becoming engaged, then the rumor Hero is unfaithful, then the wedding disaster, and eventually their reconciling.

The main subplot — and the one most people seem to remember — is Beatrice and Benedick being tricked into loving one another.

This is an effective subplot for a few reasons:

• like the main plot, the relationship subplot between Beatrice and Benedick provides commentary on deceit.
• the theme of deceit becomes much more complex with the addition of this subplot, because deceit is used for good in the subplot and for evil in the main plot. Together, they show us the true theme that deceit is morally neutral, and the reasons matter more than the action.
• the subplot directly interferes with, and changes the outcome of, the main plot. When Benedick asks Beatrice how he can help in the aftermath of Hero’s disgrace, and she says if he truly loves her, he’ll kill Claudio.

What subplots do you build up in your story? Do you build them separately or in conjunction with the main plot? How do you ensure the different threads belong in the same book?

If you like my work and would like to read more of it, consider joining Medium with my referral link to get full access to every article on Medium. Using my referral link doesn’t cost you anything, but half of the fee goes directly to supporting me each month.