How To Write Subplots! | Writing

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Recently, I’ve been working on the outline of my new Writing Project, and I took notice to the subplots that I’ve woven into the storyline. I’m not sure why, but it made me think about what makes a good subplot.

And after some careful consideration, I’ve narrowed it to five important parts! Of course, there will always be other things to consider, but let’s stick with five points!

Disclaimer: No Timmy’s were badly injured within this blog!

(Edit: Thank you so much for the feature!)

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Before we dive into this post, I’d like to answer the following question:

Whats The Point Of Subplots and What Exactly Are They?

Subplots are basically a story within a story. An example could be something like: A group of teenagers decide to work together to overthrow the government. This is the main storyline that will take place! The subplot starts to weave itself into the mix when two of the begin to fall in love! This main storyline will now have a romantic subplot!

Subplots add more depth to your story. They can also add to the climax, and make your characters seem 3D instead of 2D!

Why Should I Include Subplots In My Story?

There’s really no set rule that you have to include subplots, but it would make your story the best it can be!

With that said, Let’s begin!

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1.) Figure Out Your Main Plot First

Although it is a good thing to figure out what both your main and sub-plots are, knowing where you want to go with the story is an important part.

I will always recommend writers to prepare an outline for their story. This way, you can keep track of what chapters in the story will focus on the main plot, and what parts take a break for the subplot!

2.) What Will Your Subplot Be About?

There are countless subplot ideas! It doesn’t always stick to romance, or adventure (for example). It doesn’t even have to be a certain genre! A subplot would also include poor little Timmy who continues to roll down the hill and break his leg! We now get to experience a part of the story showing what Timmy can and cannot do because of this injury, and how it effects the climax!

Poor Timmy. I dragged him back here again only to break his leg once more.

3.) Who Are The Characters Involved?

It is often seen in books that (we’ll use romance as the example again) the main characters will fall in love. However, it doesn’t mean that it can only be the main characters!

Maybe the MC falls in love with a secondary character! Or perhaps two secondary characters have a crush on each other, and the MC has to get them together! It really does not matter, so long as it benefits the climax somehow.

4.) Figuring Out How To Weave The Main And Sub Plot Together? I’ll Help With That!

Finding the places to weave the subplot into the storyline can be a challenging thing to do! I like to make two separate plot-outlines! (let’s use romance and action for our example!)

I’ll line up the two plots beside each other, and compare them to see which scenes could potentially intertwine themselves! Maybe the massive betrayal towards the climax was caused by the person the MC wouldn’t have expected —the love interest! Now that we’ve got that figure out, we’ll need to backtrack and add in key points, like foreshadowing! We also need to include the two characters falling in love along the story!

This will sound confusing and complicated, but trust me when I say it isn’t that bad! It seems like a lot now, but you’ll need to slowly work away at it until you can absorb the information in bite-sized pieces!

5.) Adding The Stakes!

I hope we can all agree when I say that the stakes of a story is one of the most important parts. When we pile up the stakes against the Main Character, it’ll lead to be a more interesting read!

Let’s use Timmy again!

Because Timmy had broken his leg, that adds a higher risk of failure when it comes time for him to slay the giant Ogre! (Sorry Shrek.) It leaves the readers uncertain if Timmy can actually pull this off with his major disadvantage!

But before the slaying begins, we should have seen how Timmy is struggling with this injury —how difficult life has become. When we use this subplot, (or can be referred to as Ark, in this case) readers will see how Timmy struggles to do everyday things, now leaving them uncertain how the story will unfold when he comes face-to-face with this Ogre.

Layer on the stakes! Make it nearly impossible for your MC to overcome the challenge that is the climax!

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(background photo taken by me! Credit to Celine because I had gotten this idea from her posts, which I had to copy because they look sooo nice!)

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Thank You For Checking Out This Post!

I hope you all enjoyed this post and found it helpful!

There’s not much else to say, so with that, I’ll take my leave :grin:

I hope you all have a good day/night! Stay safe, and I’ll see you all in the next one! Bye!~

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