How to Develop Strong Subplots
Every compelling narrative, whether a sprawling epic or a tightly focused novella, thrives not just on its main plot, but on the intricate web of stories that run alongside it. These are subplots: the personal dilemmas, the simmering rivalries, the quiet romances, the unfolding mysteries that enrich the primary storyline and elevate a good read to an unforgettable experience. Without them, even the most thrilling main plot can feel one-dimensional, devoid of the human complexities that resonate deeply with readers.
This isn’t about throwing in random B-stories; it’s about crafting strategic, impactful narratives that serve multiple purposes: deepening character, exploring thematic elements, building world, creating suspense, and ultimately, mirroring and enhancing the central conflict. Developing strong subplots is an art and a science, requiring careful planning, organic integration, and a keen understanding of story structure. This definitive guide will strip away the generics and provide actionable strategies, concrete examples, and a clear roadmap for weaving subplots that don’t just exist, but thrive.
The Foundational Pillars: Why Subplots Matter
Before we dive into the ‘how,’ let’s firmly establish the ‘why.’ Understanding the inherent value of subplots is the first step towards mastering their creation. They are not narrative accessories; they are structural necessities for a truly robust story.
Deepening Character and Revelation
A character defined solely by their main plot goal often feels flat. Subplots provide the arena for character-driven conflict that isn’t directly tied to the primary objective, revealing their true nature, their flaws, their hidden strengths, and their internal struggles.
Actionable Insight: Identify a core internal conflict or unresolved past event for your protagonist or major supporting character. This is fertile ground for a subplot.
Concrete Example: In a fantasy novel where the main plot is a quest to defeat an evil sorcerer, the protagonist, Elara, might harbor a subplot about her strained relationship with her estranged father, a famed but disgraced warrior who abandoned her. This reveals Elara’s deep-seated trust issues, her struggle with forgiveness, and her fear of failure – all aspects that will inevitably impact her resolve on the main quest. The subplot isn’t about the sorcerer; it’s about Elara’s inner healing and overcoming her emotional baggage.
Enriching Themes and World-Building
Subplots offer a versatile canvas to explore the story’s overarching themes from different angles, and to flesh out the nuances of your world beyond the immediate scope of the main plot.
Actionable Insight: Consider the main theme of your story. Can a subplot explore an opposing facet of that theme, or showcase it through the lens of a different character or social group? What aspects of your world-building are interesting but not critical to the main plot?
Concrete Example: If the main theme of a sci-fi thriller is the ethics of AI, a subplot might follow a group of sentient robots fighting for their rights in a hidden underground society, showcasing the theme of ‘freedom vs. control’ from a different, perhaps more extreme, perspective than the human-centric main plot. This also broadens the world, showing how AI exists beyond the immediate antagonist.
Generating Suspense and Pacing Fluctuations
Subplots can be expertly manipulated to control pacing. They can offer moments of respite from high-stakes main plot tension, introduce new layers of mystery, or even escalate complications.
Actionable Insight: Use subplots to create peaks and valleys in your narrative tension. Introduce a new revelation in a subplot just as the main plot is hitting a lull, or use a subplot’s resolution to provide a sense of accomplishment before the next main plot challenge.
Concrete Example: A detective novel’s main plot involves solving a brutal murder. A subplot might follow the detective’s partner, struggling with a gambling addiction that puts them in debt to dangerous individuals. This subplot doesn’t directly solve the murder, but the partner’s desperate actions create their own tension, provide moments of high-stakes, non-murder-related drama, and can even compromise the main investigation, injecting unpredictable complications.
Mirroring and Contrasting the Main Plot
The most potent subplots often resonate with the main narrative without directly replicating it. They can mirror the core conflict on a smaller, more personal scale, or offer a stark contrast that highlights the main plot’s stakes.
Actionable Insight: Ask how your subplot’s central conflict, character arcs, or thematic questions relate to those of the main plot. Is there an ironic parallel? A reinforcing correlation?
Concrete Example: In a story where the main plot is a rebellion against a tyrannical emperor, a subplot might focus on a small village’s internal struggle to choose a new elder after their beloved leader dies. Both are about leadership and power, but one is grand, the other intimate. The village’s process might mirror the challenges of establishing new governance in the larger rebellion, or it might offer a stark contrast, highlighting the dangers of unchecked power on a smaller scale.
The Blueprint: Structuring and Integrating Subplots
Subplots aren’t an afterthought. They require careful planning, organic initiation, and deliberate progression.
1. Identify Your Core Idea & Its Thematic Spine
Before you even think about subplots, have a firm grasp of your main plot and its central theme. This provides the context and guiding principle for all subsequent narrative additions.
Actionable Insight: Write a one-sentence synopsis of your main plot and a one-word theme. Use these as your bedrock.
Concrete Example: Main Plot: A young wizard must stop a looming magical plague. Theme: Sacrifice.
2. Brainstorm Subplot Candidates from Character and World Gaps
Once you have your core, look for unanswered questions, unresolved tensions, or under-explored corners in your existing character concepts and world-building. These ‘gaps’ are perfect breeding grounds for subplots.
Actionable Insight:
* For each major character: What are their deepest fears? Their greatest desires beyond the main plot? Their secrets? Their unresolved past? Their relationships with others?
* For your world: What social conflicts exist? What smaller, non-main-plot mysteries are there? What unique cultural practices or technologies could create conflict?
Concrete Example (continuing from above):
* Character Gaps (Young Wizard): Perhaps he’s afraid of his own magical power, having accidentally harmed someone in the past. Or he has a rivalry with another student who views him as a fluke. Or he’s secretly in love with someone he shouldn’t be.
* World Gaps: What about the victims of the last magical plague? Are there people still suffering? What are the political factions within the magical council?
3. Select Subplots with Purpose (The “Two-Birds, One Stone” Rule)
Don’t implement a subplot just because it’s interesting. It must serve at least two of the foundational pillars (character deepening, theme, suspense, mirroring, world-building). Ideally, it should directly impact the main plot or the protagonist’s journey through it, even if indirectly.
Actionable Insight: For each potential subplot: Can it reveal something crucial about a character? Enhance a theme? Offer a moment of emotional tension? Propel the main plot forward, even if subtly? If it doesn’t do at least two of these, cut it or rethink it.
Concrete Example (picking a subplot):
* Initial Candidate: Young wizard’s rivalry with another student.
* Purpose Check: Reveals the wizard’s insecurity (character); could lead to sabotage affecting the main plot (suspense/plot impact). This looks promising.
* Alternative Candidate: Wizard’s secret love interest.
* Purpose Check: Reveals his emotional vulnerability (character); could be a distraction (suspense/plot impact); could potentially force a difficult choice linked to sacrifice (theme). Also promising, perhaps even more thematically rich.
Let’s pursue the “secret love interest” subplot, as it aligns more strongly with the “Sacrifice” theme. The main plot is about sacrificing his life to stop the plague; this subplot can be about sacrificing love for the greater good, or perhaps a love interest who forces him to make a personal sacrifice.
4. Initiate Organically: The Seed of Conflict
A strong subplot doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It needs to be planted early and naturally, often weaving into existing scenes.
Actionable Insight: Introduce the initial conflict, desire, or mystery of your subplot in the first act. Don’t make it a full-blown crisis yet, just a hint or a subtle development.
Concrete Example: Early in the novel, as the young wizard prepares for his quest, a subtle glance, a whispered conversation, or a found trinket hints at his secret affection for a fellow apprentice, Elara. Perhaps he offers to help her with a difficult spell, even though he’s pressed for time, showing his devotion. This plants the seed.
5. Progression and Interweaving: Threads in a Tapestry
The subplot shouldn’t exist in a vacuum. Its events should unfold in parallel with the main plot, occasionally intersecting and influencing each other.
Actionable Insight:
* Escalate: Each time you return to the subplot, advance its conflict.
* Integrate: Look for natural junctures where the subplot can influence the main plot or vice versa. Avoid force-fitting.
* Pacing: Use the subplot to vary the pacing of your narrative. When the main plot is intense, the subplot might offer a brief, quieter moment of reflection, or conversely, introduce new drama.
Concrete Example:
* Act I (Initiation): Small hints of the wizard’s affection for Elara. Maybe she’s assigned to a different, less dangerous task – planting a subtle seed of separation later.
* Act II (Progression): The wizard faces a setback in his quest for a rare ingredient. Elara, hearing of his struggles, secretly uses her own skills to find a workaround, or provides a vital piece of information she learned from her studies. This shows her caring, but also introduces a risk for her.
* Act II (Escalation): The magical plague intensifies, and Elara falls ill, or her family is gravely affected, putting pressure on the wizard to complete his main quest even faster, or creating a moral dilemma. This raises the personal stakes of the main plot.
* Act III (Interweaving): The wizard needs to find a specific artifact that requires navigating a politically sensitive area. Elara, recovered or stronger, has connections there due to her family or a mentor, and offers to help. Her involvement puts her in harm’s way, forcing the wizard to confront his feelings and the potential sacrifice.
6. Climax and Resolution: Tying the Knot
A strong subplot needs its own mini-climax and resolution. This doesn’t mean every subplot needs to be fully resolved; some can conclude ambiguously, but their central conflict must be addressed.
Actionable Insight:
* Simultaneous or Sequential: The subplot’s climax can occur just before, during, or just after the main plot’s climax, often amplifying it.
* Impact: How does the resolution of the subplot affect the characters going forward? How does it re-contextualize the main plot’s resolution?
Concrete Example:
* Climax: During the main plot’s final confrontation with the source of the plague, the wizard faces a crucial choice: save Elara who is now in direct danger (and perhaps responsible for distracting an enemy or an attack), or complete the ritual that would stop the plague, but almost certainly cost Elara her life. This forces the thematic sacrifice: his personal happiness for the greater good.
* Resolution: He chooses to complete the ritual, saving the kingdom but losing Elara (or, in a more bittersweet ending, Elara survives but is irrevocably changed, and their love story cannot continue as it was). This mirrors the “Sacrifice” theme directly and impacts him profoundly. The sacrifice isn’t just for the world, but deeply personal. His growth is evident in his choice.
Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Even with the best intentions, subplots can falter. Here’s how to navigate common pitfalls.
The “Random Detour” Subplot
This is a subplot that feels tacked on, doesn’t contribute to the larger narrative, and actively pulls the reader away from the main story without offering significant value.
How to Avoid: Revisit “The Two-Birds, One Stone” rule. If your subplot doesn’t enhance character, theme, world, or tension, cut it. Does it feel like a tangent? It probably is.
Example of Pitfall: A main plot about medieval knights, but a subplot about a knight who suddenly decides to become a baker, and the novel spends chapters on him learning to bake. Unless this baking skill somehow becomes crucial in an unexpected way to the knight’s quest or reveals a profound aspect of his character relevant to the main plot, it’s a random detour.
The “Overly Dominant” Subplot
When a subplot becomes so compelling or lengthy that it overshadows the main plot, confusing the reader about which story is primary.
How to Avoid:
* Word Count Allocation: While not a strict rule, ensure the bulk of your descriptive and plot-driving narrative time is dedicated to the main plot.
* Resolution Scope: The resolution of the subplot should feel less monumental than the main plot’s resolution.
* Protagonist Focus: The main plot must be about the protagonist’s core journey. If the subplot starts to steal their spotlight, re-evaluate.
Example of Pitfall: A political thriller about a president facing assassination, but the narrative spends 80% of its time on a journalist’s personal struggle with alcoholism and their journey through recovery, with the assassination plot feeling like a backdrop. The journalist’s story, while potentially interesting, has become the dominant narrative.
The “Unresolved Loose End” Subplot
Leaving a subplot’s core conflict introduced but never addressed or resolved. This leaves readers feeling unsatisfied and cheated.
How to Avoid: Every significant narrative thread you introduce should have a payoff. It doesn’t always have to be a happy ending, but it must be an ending or a meaningful continuation.
Example of Pitfall: A fantasy novel where the main character learns they have a long-lost sibling, and this fact is mentioned several times, hinting at a reunion or conflict… but then the sibling is never seen or heard from again, and their existence has no bearing on the main plot’s resolution.
The “Too Many Subplots” Syndrome
When a novel attempts to juggle too many subplots, leading to a cluttered narrative where no single storyline gets enough development, and the reader struggles to keep track.
How to Avoid:
* Fewer, Better: It’s almost always better to have two or three strong, well-integrated subplots than five or six underdeveloped ones.
* Purpose Check (Again!): Rigorously apply the “Two-Birds, One Stone” rule to every potential subplot. If you find yourself struggling to articulate its unique contributions, cut it.
* Consolidate: Can two minor subplot ideas be merged into one, creating a more robust, purposeful secondary narrative?
Example of Pitfall: A novel with a main plot about a haunted house. Simultaneously, there’s a subplot about a character’s long-lost pet, another about a conspiracy in their workplace, another about their sibling’s failing marriage, and yet another about a local mayoral election. None of these get significant attention, and the reader feels overwhelmed.
The Art of Subtlety and Subtext
Strong subplots aren’t always about overt conflict. Sometimes, their power lies in what’s unsaid or subtly implied.
Internal Subplots
These are conflicts that occur entirely within a character’s mind: their struggle with a moral dilemma, overcoming a personal prejudice, grappling with grief, or dealing with a crisis of faith. These are often the most potent, as they directly impact character arc.
Actionable Insight: Identify a deeply held belief or internal barrier your character possesses. How can a subplot challenge or change this?
Concrete Example: A main plot where a hardened mercenary is hired to protect a vulnerable scholar. The internal subplot is the mercenary’s struggle to reconcile their violent past with the deep empathy they unexpectedly feel for the scholar. This isn’t an external conflict; it’s a battle against their own cynicism and self-perception, revealed through their actions and reactions throughout the main plot.
Subplots as Thematic Metaphors
Sometimes, a subplot doesn’t need a definitive ‘beginning, middle, and end’ external arc. Its purpose might be primarily to echo the main theme through a different lens.
Actionable Insight: Consider how a minor, recurring situation or character interaction, subtly changes over the course of the story, can illuminate the main theme.
Concrete Example: In a story about the devastating effects of war (main plot), a subplot could be the slow, visible decay of a once-vibrant public garden in the protagonist’s hometown. No specific conflict with the garden, but its deterioration due to neglect, lack of resources, and the departure of caretakers mirrors the broader destruction of peace and beauty in the world, constantly reminding the reader of the war’s true cost. The garden, a silent character, becomes a thematic metaphor.
Conclusion
Developing strong subplots is about enriching the reader’s experience through layers of meaning, character depth, and narrative complexity. It’s not about adding irrelevant details; it’s about crafting interconnected stories that resonate with the main narrative, elevating it from a simple journey to a profound exploration of human experience. By strategically identifying, integrating, and resolving these secondary narratives, you build a literary world that feels alive, characters that feel real, and a story that leaves a lasting impression. Master the art of the subplot, and you master the heart of compelling storytelling.