Secrets of Writing: Sub Plots

Sub-plots are miniature stories within the main body of your story. They exist to develop events and characters that are taking place outside the experience of the Hero. Sub plots are especially helpful in keeping the middle part of the story interesting.

It’s wise to treat sub-plots like one or two act stories. But we usually don’t get to see the whole act at once. Often a sub-plot begins with a trigger event and develops to a crisis, but we don’t see the climax until later in the story where it affects the main plot.

Sub-plots can be broken up in three or four places. We can cut back to them where they left off as needed. But each scene or sequence involving a sub plot should work smoothly with the main body of the story.

There are two kinds of sub-plots. The set up sub-plot serves to set up the Trigger Event for the main story. The complication sub-plot exists to develop the story in the second act by throwing on another progressive complication.

Complication sub-plots are extremely important. They can not only add dimension to your story, they can also be used to contradict the premise and create irony. They can be used to develop supporting characters. They show us events going on outside the main body of the story which are related.

They allow you to play variations on a theme. You can use them to make your story resonate. Even though they are part of your main story, you can use them as counter stories, telling variations of the main tale in order to show the diversity of life.

Sub-plots can give you a lot of possibilities, but you need to make sure they flow seamlessly within the main work. You don’t want discordant melodies running amok.

REMEMBER: Sub-plots help add dimension and resonance.

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