Subplots

Subplots and I have a long history. I went from writing short stories to novels and had a horrible time getting the concept of subplots. Part of my problem was that I had seen a number of books where they had subplots which seemed more page filler than anything else--they took the reader away from the story for a long time and didn't add anything new. So I tried writing a novel without them--which is pretty much impossible. The story will start to fizzle out after about 100 or so pages. In fact, there were places where I felt like something else should be there, and I didn't realize something was telling me "Subplot, dummy!"

But over time, I realized that that I prefer a lot of little subplots that weave in and out of the story, rather than one that I switch to for a few chapters and then switch back. So instead of one big subplot, I have about 30 or so little subplots that come in for a few paragraphs or pages in the middle of other things going on.

Plot Holes: I had problems with this, too, but it wasn't because of the subplots. Co-writer and I just got through a major round of revisions that cleaned up story setup problems. Every time we got to chapter 22, which was a privotal chapter, we ended up going back to revise again because we hadn't shaken out the story setup issues. We spent a lot of time making sure everything fit together in a way that made sense (and not simply because the story needed it later on); all the questions were answered; and all the story setup worked. Once we chased out all the setup issues, we lost seven chapters that had been needed to shore it up.

IMO, a story with more than one plot can often have two genres, or two subgenres.

The main plot is the main genre. The subplot is the second, and the subplot provides the lull-between-the-action moments that help keep your pacing going.

A lot of subplots/second genres are romance, but not necessarily. And things get more complicated when you have several subplots, but that's the gist of it.

Linda Adams said:

Subplots and I have a long history. I went from writing short stories to novels and had a horrible time getting the concept of subplots. Part of my problem was that I had seen a number of books where they had subplots which seemed more page filler than anything else--they took the reader away from the story for a long time and didn't add anything new. So I tried writing a novel without them--which is pretty much impossible. The story will start to fizzle out after about 100 or so pages. In fact, there were places where I felt like something else should be there, and I didn't realize something was telling me "Subplot, dummy!"

But over time, I realized that that I prefer a lot of little subplots that weave in and out of the story, rather than one that I switch to for a few chapters and then switch back. So instead of one big subplot, I have about 30 or so little subplots that come in for a few paragraphs or pages in the middle of other things going on.

Plot Holes: I had problems with this, too, but it wasn't because of the subplots. Co-writer and I just got through a major round of revisions that cleaned up story setup problems. Every time we got to chapter 22, which was a privotal chapter, we ended up going back to revise again because we hadn't shaken out the story setup issues. We spent a lot of time making sure everything fit together in a way that made sense (and not simply because the story needed it later on); all the questions were answered; and all the story setup worked. Once we chased out all the setup issues, we lost seven chapters that had been needed to shore it up.

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Ye Gods, I know exactly what you mean. I also came from short stories, and I spent a long time cutting my teeth on them. Subplots were, and admittedly are still, a bit of an alien matter for me. I've had the lack of them kill a novel. Several. In fact, this is probably the number one reason why I fail to finish my manuscripts.

I don't worry abut subplots in any way at all. Trying to intentionally stuff subplots into a novel never made sense to me. If the characters are real people, if they're well-rounded, and if they have a life outside of the main storyline as all real people do, subplots should come about automatically, and they should be ones that never overpower the main story arch.

I think all a good subplot ever does is show that the characters have more than one problem in life. The main problem is the main problem, the little subplots ar ethe typical problems we all have, no matter what problem overrides everything else.

I think it's trying to come up with subplots, and then trying to insert them into the story, that kills most first novels. Short story or novel, I handle subplots the same way. . .I ignore them completely, and just give the main character more than one thing to worry about. A second problem is a subplot, and if it's a much smaller problem than the one the novel is about, it won't override anything.

Subplots are there for verisimilitude, to make the charcaters believable, to make the world teh character lives in relaistic, and not because a single problem can't carry a story of whatever length. Subplots should be simple, should not take up much wordage, and should always be in the background.

As I once read somewhere, "Even a dog that's being attacked by a wolf can still have fleas." The wolf is the main problem, the fleas are the subplot. Fleas are all a subplot needs to be.

Those subplots can paint you into a corner. Thats when it's time to get nuerotic. I let a subplot BECOME the story one time. Just when I thought I knew where I was going, that subplot took me for a ride and hijacked my story.

It was fun as heck writing myself out of that corner. The story went from a coming of age to a psycho story halfway thru. I let some people read it when i was done and they all were blown away by the way the story changed miway thru and took you for a ride. Subplots can save the day.

Go with it and see where it takes you. You can always hi-lite and delete if it gets outta control. One reader called me and said she didn't know where this story was going, she liked it and it kept her turning pages. I was gonna tell her I didn't know where I was going when I wrote it, but since everybody thought I done it on purpose and it was ingenius, I just kept my mouth shut.

If a subplot comes out of the darkness and takes over the book, it's the main plot.

That's where the second draft comes in.

Mistook said:

Do subplots have a different meaning in an epic adventure? In other words, if you take your standard group of heroes and split them up, the plot branches out in a way. Do these count as subplots?

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I wouldn't consider these subplots, but multiple strands of the main plot. So, if three heroes split up and all help vanquish the bad guy, it's all the same problem. But that's why they usually unite at the end for the grand finale. If there's a bit in there about someone's issues with their mom, that's a subplot.

Mistook said:

Do subplots have a different meaning in an epic adventure? In other words, if you take your standard group of heroes and split them up, the plot branches out in a way. Do these count as subplots?

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I'd agree with Ted Curtis here. Those aren't subplots, just different strands of the main plot. All these strands come together in the end, tie together to conclude the story.

My subplots always run parallel the main plot, but never take over. I don't specifically develop the subplots or think too hard on them. They just come to me. Sometimes the subplot is more prominent, and sometimes it's barely detectable. In The Pacific Between, for example, the subplot is a faint thread, but an important one, that runs through the entire novel. It never takes center stage, but at the end, you'll understand why the subplot is there.