The Mysterious Subplot post takes the mystery out of writing subplots, or maybe puts them into mysteries. You’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Subplots can be intimidating, but they don’t have to be. The key to solving any mystery is information. Let’s follow the clues and solve the mystery of subplots.

What is a Mysterious subplot?

A mysterious subplot is a subplot that you can’t figure out how to make work. When I was plotting out my urban fantasy series I ran into this problem. I’ll share what worked for me later in this post, but I’ll give you a clue. It can be hard to see the nature of something when it’s complex.

What is a subplot?

To understand something complex you must break it down into smaller, simple parts. Simply put, a subplot is a smaller story within a larger story.

If you picture them like Matryoshka dolls it can help you understand some of the complexity of subplots. Just like the mother doll holds her children, a good subplot is the child of the larger story. It will have the characteristics of the main story it is related to. However, subplots are also different stories because they have a purpose in the story all their own.

A subplot is also a tool to make a story wonderfully complex and satisfying to read. It does this by mimicking some of what happens in real life through layering. This is the scary part, a poorly crafted subplot can confuse a reader and break a story. If the story breaks the reader may put down the book and you could lose them as a reader forever. I’ll tell you how to avoid this once you understand the basics makeup subplots.

What can you use a Subplot for?

Subplots work just like main stories do for the most part. However, they must play a supporting role in the story or they will break the story’s flow. You can use a subplot to explore themes, deepens character development, share complex ideas or feelings, and add more tension through conflict. It’s their job to add layers to a single storyline, and pull the reader interest in deeper.

Subplots should not steal the spotlight away from of the main story’s plot points. So, its best to have them end before the main story’s climax. However, romantic subplots are an exception. In romance the the theme is always love conquers all, and readers expect a “happily ever after” or “happy for now” ending.

Two Types of Subplots

To make it easer to understand how subplots we will break them down into the two basic types. Yes, you can define subplots into more groups, but this makes it easy to understand. The first, an Affinity subplot helps the protagonist to reach the story goal in the climax. The second type of subplot is an opposition subplot, it works against the protagonist reaching their goal in the climax scene.

However, even this can be confusing because subplots have their own story arc. Both types support and deter the protagonist from reaching their climax goal at different points in the story. The key is to look at what they do in the end. Dose the subplot bring your protagonist closer to reaching their story goal or further away from it?

I like to think of subplot stories in music terms to separate them from the main story. Your mains story is the melody and your subplots are countermelodies. Each have their own its own independent musical line with a “trough” (the lowest point) and the “peak” (the highest point). What happens in the peak (the subplot’s climax) tells you what type of subplot it is.

Affinity Subplots

Affinity subplots are small stories about the positive relationships in the protagonist’s life. The relationship may be with a protagonist’s friend, a sidekick, a love interest, or a mentor. Though they can also be an animal, object, the weather, or a place depending on the type genre you’re writing in.

Opposition Subplot

Opposition subplots are the negative relationship stories in the protagonist’s life. Some examples of this are a jealous rival, a storm, the political structure of a particular place and time, corruption within organizations, a sick relative, an abusive partner, or any other outside inflicts that impede the protagonist from reaching their climax goal.

Can You Vanquish The Mysterious Subplot

Can you vanquish the mystery behind subplots? Yes you can, if you are talking about the confusion many writers have over how to create, use, and fix them when you break your story! However, if you are talking about reading a mystery the answer is no, or rather you shouldn’t. By definition a mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain, and the best way to create a complex story is with subplots. (wink)

As I promised, here is how I made my subplots work. What worked for me was writing down the basic bare bones of each subplot’s five arc plot points and the five plot points of my novel. I placed each one in the order they occur in, writing a single sentence with the protagonist their goal and the consequences if the goal fails. Then I placed read it and that helped me see what the root of the problem was.

My solution is basically plotting in revers. If you prefer to outlining a story first, you can write the plot points scene as one sentence skeleton blurbs each until they work. Next, do the same with your subplots, adding the subplots skeleton blurbs into the framework of our story one at at time, adapting them, and moving the order around as needed. Once you’ figurer’s sure the first subplot structure is sound you can add in a second and even a third if you want to.

Plot Holes

When you first start writing subplots, it’s beneficial to keep the number subplots low until you get the hang of interweaving them into a cohesive whole. Making sure your story structure is sound is the best way to keep your readers happy, and this is important because happy readers keep reading. You’ll get better at finding and removing inconstancies (plot holes) the more you practice. And you’ll figure out what methods work best for you as a writer the more you practice.

Thank you so much for reading my post. I hope this helps you write some amazing and deeply interesting stories.

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Reference: Spiderweb image curious of Ivicabrlic, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons