Writers’ toolkit: Mastering subplots
Learn how to add layers to your story by following Diana Kimpton’s advice
Subplots are an excellent way to add complexity and depth to a story, but they can be difficult to master. Unless you are careful, they can distract from the main plot instead of enhancing it – a situation that can make your book less appealing to readers.
Part of the problem is the name subplot. It suggests something that runs underneath the main plot and is less important. But that is not strictly true because, when you’re reading or writing a novel, you’ll find there are times when the sub-plot is what you’re focusing on. If you’ve ever plaited hair, you’ll know that different strands come to the front as you work and that’s exactly what happens as we weave the main plot and subplots in our story together.
As a result, I find it less confusing to think of subplots as story strands. That’s a better description of their role in a book or script, and it means that we don’t have to worry whether a storyline is really a separate subplot or part of the main plot. You can leave that decision to any story analysts who try to dissect your work after it’s finished.
Interestingly, the tighter your strands are woven together, the harder they will find it to tease them apart again.
How many story strands do you need?
A short story or a children’s picture book will work well with just a single storyline. But when you’re tackling a longer project, adding extra strands will make the story more interesting and help you with characterisation and pacing. Although my Pony-Mad Princess books only have 8,000 words each, their plots usually have two story strands: one about the ponies and one about the ups and downs of being a princess.