Your gateway to endless inspiration
Subplots: the spicy side quests of your main narrative. They deepen your world, flesh out your characters, and keep things interesting. But if you’ve ever added one and ended up with a story that feels like it’s running in six directions at once… yeah. Let’s fix that.
Don’t just throw in a romance arc or a secret sibling reveal because it’s fun (though it is fun). Ask:
- Does this subplot challenge the main character’s goals?
- Does it echo or contrast the main theme?
- Does it change something by the end?
If it’s just a cute side quest with no real impact, it’s fanfic material for your own story. Cool, but maybe not plot-essential.
Bad: your subplot exists in a bubble, running beside the plot but never touching it.
Better: your subplot interacts with the main plot. Maybe it complicates things. Maybe it supports the MC in a moment of crisis. Maybe it explodes everything.
Example: your MC is hunting a killer, and the subplot is their failing marriage. Good subplotting means the stress of the hunt affects the marriage, and the marriage affects the hunt.
Your main plot might hit its midpoint twist at chapter 10. Have a subplot hit a *smaller* emotional beat around chapter 7 or 13. It keeps pacing dynamic and gives your readers something to chew on between big moments.
Side characters are more than background noise. Give them wants. Give them stakes. Let their stories *collide* with your MC’s. That’s when the magic happens.
Not every subplot needs a 3-act structure and a dramatic finale. Some are small. Some fade out naturally. Some just shift the perspective enough to reframe the main plot. If you’re tying up subplot #6 with a bow in the epilogue, maybe ask yourself if it really needed to be there.
It helps to map out how every subplot connects to the main story. Literally. Draw lines. Make a chaos diagram. It doesn’t have to be neat—just make sure those threads touch.
Subplots are great. Subplots are juicy. But they’re not decoration—they’re infrastructure. Weave them into the story’s bones or risk writing 3 novels in one.