• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • Master Storytelling Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • WHW Descriptive Thesaurus Collection
    • Free Tools & Worksheets
    • Grab A Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

How to Add Meaningful Subplots to Your Novel

July 5, 2017 by Writing Coach

cs-lakinMany people are familiar with subplots. They are those side stories that give a novel’s plot depth. A subplot may involve the main character or minor characters, but they enrich the story if done well.

Subplots are everywhere. We see them in the movies we watch, and they are usually in every novel we read. We may instinctively know how they work in story structure.

If you’re writing a novel or planning on writing one, you maybe have considered adding in a subplot or three. Okay, so where do you start?

There isn’t much written on crafting subplots—which I find odd.

Is there some secret to coming up with a great one? And does every novel need a subplot?

Let me answer the second question first.

I can’t speak for every novel, but I will say that a novel with merely one main plot may come across shallow or one-dimensional. While your best-selling thriller, like The Bourne Identity, won’t often have a subplot, readers aren’t looking so much for depth or theme as they are for the ride. A subplot might slow down pacing and distract.

I’ll venture to say, though, that even genres that don’t “need” subplots can often benefit from one, if it’s pertinent to the overarching plot and point of the story. What’s the point of a thriller aside from the thrill?

We’re talking about theme here. Even a Bourne Identity can have themes of integrity, loyalty, doing the right thing, risking life and safety for others, exposing evil.

But this brings me to my point, in order to answer the first question. No, there isn’t a “secret” method to come up with a great subplot, but find your main theme, and that will point the way for you.

Before I elaborate, let me say this . . .

Writers need to be careful not to throw any old subplot into a story in the hope it will just add some interest. If you keep in mind that everything that goes into your novel must serve the advancement and complication of the main plot, you will fare well.

Subplots Serve a Purpose

What do I mean by “serve the advancement” of the main plot? Your main plot is all about a protagonist going after a goal in the midst of conflict and high stakes.

So, if you keep in mind that any subplots you create should add to the main plot in a meaningful way, that can help you come up with some interesting and helpful subplots.

Subplots can involve your protagonist and/or your secondary characters. Regardless, whatever side stories you weave into your novel, they need to impact your protagonist.

I have read numerous novels, some by best-selling authors, who have subplots thrown into their stories that don’t fit at all. These subplots feel dropped in as noise and distraction, and I’ve sometimes found myself skimming pages to get past them in order to get back to the gripping main plot. That’s a bad thing.

In addition to being irrelevant to the novel’s purpose and premise, they are often boring, featuring mundane concerns and activities that don’t add anything of interest. And that makes for a dissatisfied reader.

Plot Layers That Mimic Real Life

We want our characters to have lives that feel real and similar to our own. Novels should be portraying a slice of real life (but just more interesting, we hope). Our lives are multilayered with different objectives or goals, and if you look at your life in these terms, you can identify numerous goals you are pursuing each day, year in and year out.

Some of these goals are big and cover years of your life. The “big” goal in your life may be to find a person to marry, raise a family, get a college degree or a great job, scale Mount Everest. Much of your time, effort, and thinking may wrap around a big goal.

However, life is not one main plot. Life is full of short-term and long-term goals. You may have some more immediate goals of trying to write a paper for a class or put a presentation together for your job. You may have the goal of losing ten pounds over the next few months. These are also goals that you could think of as “subplots” in your life.

And then you have small daily goals, like getting the grocery shopping done or finding a company to come shampoo your carpets. Life is made up of layers of goals. Layers of plot in the story of your life. Some goals may be boring; others exciting. But it’s all part of life.

How to Show Ordinary Life in a Meaningful Way

Now, since you don’t want your novel or characters to be boring or involved in boring activities, this begs the question:

How do you make your characters feel real and have their experiences mirror real life if you don’t have similar plot layers, including some of the daily mundane, boring ones?

Glad you asked. And this, to me, is the secret to writing great subplots. Make this the word you associate with subplots: complicate.

If you make it your objective to use your subplots to complicate your story, you’re on the right track. That doesn’t mean you want to throw in side stories that are only messy situations.

So with every subplot you add in (and often, the more the better), utilizing any number of secondary characters, find a way for this additional story line to be a complication.

For whom? Ultimately, for your protagonist. For, even if the subplot is about another character, the impact of what that character is going through has to affect your protagonist.

Don’t throw random subplots into your novel just for filler or because you think they are neat ideas. They really must serve a purpose in your story.

Sure, make some of them entertaining, even providing comic relief. Subplots really help to bring out your characters and all their issues, and they help make your characters clash, which, to me, is the best reason for layering plots.

Subplots are great devices for showcasing theme, with your secondary characters embodying an opposing view from that of your protagonist.

Take some time to brainstorm lots of ideas for your subplots. Think about the allies and antagonists in your novel, who are there to help or hinder your main character in reaching her objective for the book.

If you make it your aim to make it as hard as possible for your hero to reach his goal, subplots can be very useful in this way. Don’t settle for a boring, wimpy subplot as filler. A great subplot can turn a good novel into a great one.

Can you think of any great subplots in a novel you read recently? Share in the comments!

To further help you (since space is limited here), I wrote a number of blog posts last year on Live Write Thrive on subplot structure. You can download my handy 20-Scene Subplot Structure chart here, which gives you ideas on how to develop your subplot and interweave it with the main plot. [Note: the subplot scenes on the chart are numbered 11-20, as they are layer in with the first layer of the ten key scenes. Again, if you want to learn more about layering scenes, check out my blog posts on the topic.]

cs-lakin_framedC. S. Lakin is an award-winning novelist, writing instructor, and professional copyeditor who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her award-winning blog for writers, Live Write Thrive, provides deep writing instruction and posts on industry trends. In addition to sixteen novels, Lakin also publishes writing craft books in the series The Writer’s Toolbox, and you can get a copy of Writing the
Heart of Your Story and other free ebooks when you join her Novel
Writing Fast Track email group. Find out more about Lakin here and connect with her on social media.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Be sure to join my Novel Writing Fast Track email group! (No participation necessary.) You’ll get lots of free ebooks and PDFs on the writing craft, as well as tips on writing and marketing to help you fast track to success!

Save

Save

Writing Coach
Writing Coach

Find all Resident Writing Coach posts here.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Character Arc, Characters, Conflict, Plotting, Resident Writing Coach, Subtext, Theme, Uncategorized, Villains, Writing Craft, Writing Lessons

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Johnny says

    July 1, 2019 at 7:04 am

    Thank you very much for your post!
    I must say it has helped me clear up many doubts that I had in regards to the novel I’m planning to write, where the focus shifts away from the protagonist for while towards her sister, showcasing the adventures that she’s living while her sister is in another town
    Thanks again😆

  2. BECCA PUGLISI says

    July 6, 2017 at 3:01 pm

    Thank you so much for posting, Susanne. The best stories are the multi-layered ones, but subplots can be hard to weave seamlessly into the storyline. Good stuff here.

  3. :Donna says

    July 5, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    Great stuff, Susanne 🙂 Thanks!

  4. Traci Kenworth says

    July 5, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    Great post!

  5. Kessie says

    July 5, 2017 at 1:17 pm

    Good thoughts about subplots! I tend to get subplots mixed with parallel plots, for example, Finding Nemo. Marlin’s adventures to find Nemo are the main plot, but Nemo’s adventures in the fish tank are a parallel plot. Kind of like a subplot with muscle. I guess a subplot would be, in the Incredibles, how Elastigirl thinks Bob is cheating on her. Great emotions there, definitely keeps us watching.

    • C. S. Lakin says

      July 6, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      Thanks. A subplot is a side story. And while it may tie in with the primary plot, it really doesn’t do anything to advance that plot. I wouldn’t say that the Elastigirl element is a subplot. but the wife in True Lies dating the creepy fake spy guy is a subplot because it is developed into numerous scenes that are taking place “on the side” while the hero is trying to deal with a case.

Trackbacks

  1. Writing: Subplots—Where to Find Them – Amanda Down the Rabbit Hole says:
    March 25, 2020 at 10:32 am

    […] C.S. Lakin, “How to Add Meaningful Subplots to Your Novel,” https://writershelpingwriters.net/2017/07/how-to-add-meaningful-subplots-to-your-novel/ […]

  2. Ten Things on a Tuesday | anovelhome.com says:
    November 20, 2018 at 1:39 pm

    […] 4. I’m in that stage where I have to read my chapters over and over again to make sure they’re complete. That all the scenes progress the plot, that the dialogue is fresh, and the subplots are meaningful. Writers helping writers, a website for writers, has a great article about making sure your subplots are working for your story. The article delves into how subplots can be used to inject some real life into our stories and touches on using subplots to complicate your protagonist life and further plot. Check it out here. […]

  3. Writing Links 7/10/17 – Where Genres Collide says:
    July 10, 2017 at 7:04 am

    […] https://writershelpingwriters.net/2017/07/how-to-add-meaningful-subplots-to-your-novel/ Subplots have to have a purpose. […]

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2023 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

Cookies are delicious and ours help make your experience here better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with our cookie use. Cookie settingsGOT IT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. More on our Privacy Policy here.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...