Message Board Topic 2/15

[Comicality]

Often, when telling a story with multiple characters, a writer is given an opportunity for greater depth and subtle shifts of focus in the main story itself.

 

If the main story is all about getting to know the dream boy and asking him to the dance...that might make for an excellent short story. But what if you wanted it to go even deeper. What if the love interest's sister has a crush on the protagonist. And he has to find a way to dodge her crush on him and get to his ultimate goal at the same time? That simple subplot can possibly take a 2 page story, and turn it into a 10 page story. And still be just as interesting, if not more so.

 

Do any of you use subplots in your stories to create a more three-dimensional experience for your readers? If so, how? What strategies should writers be looking for to utilize extra characters and ideas to make a fuller, richer, story? If you all have any advice, let us know!

 

 

 

[Nephylim]

Not that I'm aware of. I mean my stories always have a lot going on... there is always so much more than boy meet boy and falls in love. Hmm... erm I think I have multiple plots as opposed to sub plots although... IDK

 

In Death is Not and Option it starts focussing on one thing... then another deeper plot is revealed... then you have other characters exploring that and bringing out new information on it... which I suppose could be considered to be a sub plot even though it is actually feeding into the main plot.... then the plot subtly changes... then changes completely... then goes back to the first one with new characters introduced and built up half way leaving others behind. Actually there are more offshoot plots than main plot hehe. A tangle of underbrush.

 

I don't deliberately set out to make subplots I just tell the story as it comes to me. I think I have said it before, many times that I never craft a story, never write plans or plots or think about where this or that is going I just sit down and write. In that I am not really a writer at all I am a storyteller pure and simple. If I get depth and clever plotlines and arcs etc in my stories it's purely by accident. I suspect that if I ever went to a writing class I would have them tearing out their hair... far too organic

[JamesSavik]

sub-plots, if used well, can add to the depth and richness of your story.

 

In my story Twilight, subplots are like the strands of a rope that when woven together make the whole stronger.

[Graeme]

Some authors plan out their subplots ahead of time, and it really shows. There are complex interactions that thread the entire story.

 

Personally, I don't do much in that respect. My subplots appear as I write. A character does or says something because it seems natural when I'm writing that part, and then later on I get to thinking "what if" and a new subplot appears. That's how I (hopefully) make them appear natural -- because they are a natural result of the character interactions.

[Agincourt]

In part it depends on whether the story is long enough to allow development of ancillary stuff.

 

James Scott Bell, who has written some terrific books about writing, suggests giving the main character two "trajectories" -- a personal one, and a plot one. Thus, in a detective story, the lead character has a plot trajectory to try and figure out "whodunit," but may also have a personal trajectory of dealing with divorce. The personal trajectory can tie in to the main plot, such that, for example, the divorce angle causes the main character to be in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at the wrong time), but may also serve simply to enhance characterization and perhaps make the main character more vulnerable (and human).

 

I don't know if you could really call them "sub-plots," but I like to have some kind of interesting side activity going on with the main character. Thus, apart from the principal thrust of the story, maybe the main character is also working on restoring a classic car, or likes to do Chinese cooking, or whatever, and engages in activities related to that from time to time. This is a way to add some flavor to the main story, and it gives me something to write about when I need to move things along.

 

I think the side activity has to be in some contrast to the main story, rather than just an echo of it. Thus, if the principal character is an engineer and the story centers on engineering, I wouldn't make the side activity something else that involves engineering. It should be, say, photography, or sand painting, or guitar playing, or competitive kayaking.

 

What about sub-plots involving other characters? Again, it's a question of space (in the story length) and focus. Say there's a secondary character whose principal characteristic is that he engages in a series of one-night stands but can't ever find any long-lasting relationship. (It is assumed that this character has some role to play in the main story.) The nice thing about weaving in sub-plot events about this secondary character is that it helps with the "show, don't tell" maxim. In other words, rather than the author simply announcing that this character behaves a certain way, the readers get to see it in action. But care must be taken not to let the secondary character, and associated sub-plots, run off with the story.

 

A

[AdrianBlack]

I created some interludes to create a subplot. The third interlude I'm writing right now is about 50 pages long O_O