How many subplots do you have?

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MonaLeigh

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I figured out my story seems boring to me b/c I hardly had any subplots. What is a good amount to have? And, if you compare the subplots to the main story, how much time should they take up (or how big should the subplots be?)?

Thanks!
 

MerryDay

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I think it all depends on your novel and how important you make the subplots, but I have two in my book that are pretty closely tied to the main plot and they take up about 1/4th of the book. It's really easy to get too much subplot once you start adding, because you start to fall in love with those too! As far as how many is a good number, I don't have an official answer, but from a reader's POV, I normally don't like more than 1 or 2. Things can get way too complicated with a lot of extra subplots.
 

JohnDavidPaxton

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In my first book I have...zero.
But in my second book I'll have.....zero.

Are they important? Typically too many things are blowing up around my main character for anything else to bubble to the surface.
 

Scrawler

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I have a main plot and a subplot, and 1-2 very minor plots. Sub-subplots?
 

Jamesaritchie

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Subplots

I don't plan or count subplots. From my point of view, subplots work best when they're simply a natural outgrowth of the main story.
 

Azraelsbane

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I don't plan or count subplots. From my point of view, subplots work best when they're simply a natural outgrowth of the main story.

I'm with James. I have a ton of underlying themes, but I don't count or plan subplots. I just let the story go where it goes.
 

Sassee

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I have... uh....

<thinks>

Well I know I have some subplots, but I couldn't tell ya how many. They all tie into the main plot so I don't really keep track.

General rule of thumb - don't create any subplots that you can't handle fleshing out and finishing along with the main one, and don't create any that don't serve a larger purpose to the story. We don't need to know about your character's cousin's friend's mom's ex-lover that made a visit to her on Friday night and got his ass kicked by her new boyfriend... unless he was the killer your MC is searching for. See what I'm sayin? Otherwise, he has no purpose being mentioned or strung along through half the WIP.
 

Mel

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I think it might depend on what genre you're writing. 1 subplot per POV character should probably be enough. That's not saying you can't have more, as long as you keep your story tight and don't confuse the reader. I'd say just be careful your subplots don't bog down the main plot.

Don't forget, your characters are going to be bringing extra baggage with them when you start the story. What, you didn't know they had lives before you began to tell their story?
 

Azraelsbane

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Don't forget, your characters are going to be bringing extra baggage with them when you start the story. What, you didn't know they had lives before you began to tell their story?

Yeah, I just found out a few months ago that one of my protagonists spent most of his life in bed with my main antagonist. Talk about a shocker. I can't believe the little bastard didn't tell me about it before now! Now the antagonist's hatred of females makes a heck of a lot more sense.
 

Claudia Gray

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I haven't consciously considered this before -- let me think. In my first novel, there's really only one true subplot. In the second, which I'm nearing the end of now, there are three subplots. Two are fairly important, one is pretty minor.
 

JoNightshade

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Subplots... subplots... Okay, so, my question for myself here is, do I have a MAIN plot? I have three major characters and three "lesser" but still important characters. Each one has their own journey and issues to deal with and climaxes. So my climactic moment for one character is more of a minor happening for another character. They're all woven together.
 

RRK

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Looking at my two WIPs, I'm seeing a remarkable lack of subplot in either. They're both so focused around the MC that the reader's attention is never really directed toward anything but the main plot...Hopefully that's not a problem!
 

Azraelsbane

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Subplots... subplots... Okay, so, my question for myself here is, do I have a MAIN plot? I have three major characters and three "lesser" but still important characters. Each one has their own journey and issues to deal with and climaxes. So my climactic moment for one character is more of a minor happening for another character. They're all woven together.

As long as it's woven together well you should be good. Is there no larger story arc behind the work? Nothing they all are heading towards?
 

MonaLeigh

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I don't plan or count subplots. From my point of view, subplots work best when they're simply a natural outgrowth of the main story.

Thanks for so many quick answers. I only really had one main plot, but I found it kind of boring. I ended up changing my mc's job and I came up with a few subplots. I just don't want to confuse anyone by having too many.
Thanks!
 

nevada

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Nobody seems to be addressing the obvious. If your book seems boring to you, it's not because of the lack of subplots. What makes a book boring is lack of conflict. Go back to your story and find the conflict. Is there any? Or is it just a string of things happening? And I'm talking conflict. Not complications. I'll give you an example that I shamelessly stole from someone else.

A couple, lets say husband and wife, go on a picnic. During the picnic, a bunch of ants show up and overrun the picnic. Is that conflict? No. It's annoying and interrupts the picnic but it's only a complication. One that can be solved easily.

Now, lets say another woman shows up claiming to be the husband's other wife, accusing the husband of bigamy and abandoning her and her children. Conflict? You bet. And not something that can be solved easily.

Go back through your book. Got conflict?
 

JoNightshade

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As long as it's woven together well you should be good. Is there no larger story arc behind the work? Nothing they all are heading towards?

Ummmmmmmm, there's a common enemy that gets killed somewhere in the middle. :)

Actually I was thinking about this today, like what thread ties the whole thing together, and I realized that it is everyone's concern for one of my 3 minor characters. He has a story arc which is not the main story, but it underlies everything else. While everyone is dealing with their respective crap, they are all watching out for him.
 

Ageless Stranger

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Sub plots are like weeds, if they turn out to look like pretty flowers and happen to go quite nicely along side the roses, then by all means keep them otherwise, pull the damn things up.

I hope that sounded profound. I'm having a distinct lack of profoundication of late. (I'm a writer, I'm allowed to make words up.)
 

Azraelsbane

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(I'm a writer, I'm allowed to make words up.)

I agree, and you're allowed to change a word's part of speech as well. I once changed Gigantor into an adjective. My creative writing prof did not appreciate it. He seemed to have a strange love for The Gigantor, and did not like the name used with a lower-case letter.
 

Azure Skye

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I don't plan or count subplots. From my point of view, subplots work best when they're simply a natural outgrowth of the main story.

I agree. It's one of those "magical" things that I don't plan.
 

blacbird

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I don't plan or count subplots. From my point of view, subplots work best when they're simply a natural outgrowth of the main story.

Echo this. I was about to say the same thing, in almost identical words. If you can summarize the number of your plot variations or variables in clean integers, I suspect you're overplanning.

caw
 

MonaLeigh

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Nobody seems to be addressing the obvious. If your book seems boring to you, it's not because of the lack of subplots. What makes a book boring is lack of conflict. Go back to your story and find the conflict. Is there any? Or is it just a string of things happening? And I'm talking conflict. Not complications. I'll give you an example that I shamelessly stole from someone else.

This is good, thanks. Maybe I shouldn't have said boring. It was monotonos (I know that's spelled wrong). I was bored with the same character, even though I like the situations she's in. I needed more characters and subplots involved to break it up a bit, I guess.
 

Sassee

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I agree, and you're allowed to change a word's part of speech as well. I once changed Gigantor into an adjective. My creative writing prof did not appreciate it. He seemed to have a strange love for The Gigantor, and did not like the name used with a lower-case letter.

Isn't that word in the dictionary now? Along with ginormous? (gigantic + enormous)
 

AllieB

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I tend to have 1 subplot in my novels, and yes, I do plan them to a certain extent. For me, they're there in order to show something about the main plot, to reflect/heighten/contrast/deepen the overall storyline and theme.
 
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