The Secret Job of a Subplot: Complicate Your Story

Subplots are an element of novel writing that is rarely discussed. Few writing instructors teach the techniques of crafting a subplot. And that’s too bad. Because subplots can add such a terrific depth and breadth to your story. (Be sure to read the prior post on the topic to get up to speed). If you want to remember one word when you’re creating subplots, make it this: complicate.

That’s the secret to writing a subplot that will work in your novel. A subplot shouldn’t simply give your protagonist or secondary characters something to do in addition to the plot goal. It should enrich, deepen, and advance the main story while creating additional complications for your characters. And ultimately, those complications need to affect your protagonist in some meaningful way.

This brings us back to one of the most important principles of novel construction: your protagonist has a goal, and your job as the novelist is to make it as difficult as possible for her to reach that goal. Conflict and high stakes are what drive the main plot forward, but the main plot isn’t the only place those obstacles can come from.

A well-designed subplot can put additional pressure on your protagonist, forcing her to deal with another problem while she is already struggling to accomplish what she wants most.

Maybe she’s trying to solve a murder while her marriage is falling apart. Maybe he’s trying to save his family business while his estranged brother suddenly returns. Maybe she’s trying to expose corruption at work while her best friend is dealing with an abusive boyfriend. Those additional problems may not be part of the central plot, but they can make your protagonist’s life much more difficult—and much more interesting.

And pressure is good for fiction because pressure forces characters to make choices. And choices reveal important facets about character.

Subplots Can Expose Character

This is one reason I love subplots. You can use your main plot to show what your protagonist does, and then use a subplot to reveal another dimension of who she is.

In the last post, I mentioned my novel A Thin Film of Lies. Fran Anders is a homicide detective. She’s competent, determined, and focused on getting to the truth. The main plot follows her investigation into a hit-and-run death that may actually be murder. But while Fran is trying to determine whether her suspect is guilty, she is also dealing with serious problems with her teenage son, Trevor.

That subplot allows us to see what lies underneath Fran’s professional exterior. She’s struggling with guilt over her husband’s disappearance, she feels disconnected from her son, and she desperately wants to be the perfect mother. She’s terrified of failing.

Those issues don’t simply sit in the background as bits of character backstory. They become active problems in her life. Trevor’s trouble at school forces Fran to confront her own assumptions about guilt and innocence, while the difficulties in their relationship bring her emotional wounds to the surface.

That’s what a good subplot should do. It should dig deeper.

Your protagonist should be dealing with more than the external problem that drives the main plot. She should have other concerns, fears, relationships, responsibilities, and desires that put pressure on her. Those things help us understand why she makes the choices she does and why the journey through the main plot affects her so deeply.

Use Subplots to Create Character Clash

Another terrific use for subplots is creating conflict between characters.

Your characters should have different goals, beliefs, fears, wounds, and agendas. Those differences create friction, and friction creates exciting scenes.

A subplot can be a wonderful vehicle for that friction. Maybe your protagonist thinks her daughter needs discipline, while her husband thinks she needs compassion. Maybe the protagonist is trying to expose a criminal while her boss is secretly helping that criminal. Maybe a secondary character believes the protagonist’s goal is wrong and actively works against her.

Now your subplot isn’t simply giving your characters something to do. It’s making them clash.

And character clash is one of the best ways to generate tension. When two characters want different things, believe different things, or interpret the same situation differently, you have the makings of a dynamic scene. Don’t manufacture conflict or have characters argue simply because you think every scene needs an argument. Their conflicting goals and attitudes will naturally create tension if you’ve constructed the subplot well.

This is also why subplots can be so useful for secondary characters. Give those characters goals and problems of their own, and then look for ways those goals and problems collide with what your protagonist wants.

Subplots Can Showcase Theme

Subplots can also be powerful tools for exploring your novel’s themes. In the last past, I explained how the subplot with Fran’s son mirrored the main plot of the man accused of a hit-and-run murder.

You can also make your subplot contrast rather than mirror the main plot.

Suppose your main story is about trust. Your protagonist may be struggling to decide whether she can trust an ally, while a secondary character is dealing with betrayal in a marriage. Or perhaps your novel explores whether people are capable of change. Your protagonist may be trying desperately to reform herself while another character stubbornly refuses to change.

I often use the example of a woman desperately trying to get pregnant, dealing with infertility, then her best friend confides that she accidentally got pregnant during a drunken one-night stand and plans to have an abortion.

Imagine the emotions flying between these two women (and it’s not just about creating highly emotional scenes). This encounter between the two friends needs to be strategic so it motivates the protagonist to act.

All kinds of developments can occur due to this subplot. The friendship can shatter, making the protagonist angry and bitter. The protagonist could convince her friend to go through with the pregnancy and have her adopt the baby. Depending on your genre, the path forward could be hopeful and inspiring … or dark and dangerous.

But it all gets more intense because the subplot sets characters at odds with each other.

Whether you go for a mirror effect or a clash, the subplot gives you a way to explore the same thematic question.

Don’t preach your theme. Dramatize it.

This is one of the great advantages of layering plots. You can explore your central themes from several different angles without making your novel feel like a lecture. Your protagonist may be learning one lesson, while a secondary character demonstrates what happens when someone refuses to learn that lesson. Or perhaps two characters face similar circumstances and make completely different choices.

The subplot gives you room to explore those possibilities.

In A Thin Film of Lies, Fran’s investigation and her problems with her son are separate situations. Trevor isn’t secretly involved in the murder investigation, and his problems at school don’t turn out to be part of the mystery. The two plotlines don’t merge into one mystery.

But the subplot affects Fran emotionally and thematically. It also parallels the main plot in important ways, particularly the question of whether someone who insists he’s innocent should be believed. That’s enough to make the subplot valuable.

In another novel, however, a subplot might become directly connected to the main plot. In one of my historical Western romance novels, Colorado Promise, the ranchers’ dangerous activities and the heroine’s brother’s involvement with them eventually have a major impact on the main romance plot. Those developments begin as a separate storyline, but eventually the subplot creates a significant obstacle to the main plot goal.

So there are different ways subplots can function. Some run parallel to the main plot. Some intersect with it. Some eventually merge with it. The important thing is that the subplot enhances the novel’s premise.

Subplots should never be filler.

If you’re considering adding a subplot, ask yourself what the novel would lose if you took it out. Would you lose an important dimension of your protagonist’s character? Would you lose thematic depth? Would you lose tension or a significant character relationship? Would the protagonist’s journey become easier? Would you lose an opportunity for an important character clash?

If the answer to all those questions is no, you may not have a subplot. You may simply have a distraction.

Remember that your readers are investing their time and emotional energy in the story you’re telling. They don’t want to be pulled away from the central story for no reason. Even if a subplot is entertaining in itself, it needs to contribute something to the overall novel.

So here’s a simple question to ask for every subplot you’re considering:

How does this make the protagonist’s journey harder, deeper, or more meaningful?

If you can’t answer that question (or come up with a great answer), keep brainstorming.

Don’t settle for a wimpy subplot just because you think you need one. Think about your secondary characters. What do they want? What problems are they facing? What secrets are they keeping? What do they believe that conflicts with what your protagonist believes?

Then look for ways those things can put pressure on your protagonist.

You may discover that the best subplot isn’t the one that seems most exciting when you brainstorm it. It may be the one that creates the most interesting complications for your protagonist. Perhaps it forces her to choose between two things she desperately wants. Perhaps it exposes a weakness she has been trying to hide. Perhaps it puts someone she loves in danger. Or perhaps it forces her to confront a truth she has been avoiding.

The best subplots interfere with the main plot. They complicate and expose your characters and reinforce your themes. They create clashes between characters and add pressure at just the moments when your protagonist is already struggling.

And sometimes they provide the very thing your protagonist needs—or the very thing that threatens to destroy everything she’s trying to accomplish.

That’s when a subplot becomes more than a side story—it becomes an essential layer of your novel.

I hope this insight into subplots has sparked ideas for your story. Have you ever written a subplot? Are you thinking about one now? Feel free to share in the comments!

Featured Photo by Dmitry Ratushny on Unsplash