A novel is not one story. It’s several stories running in the same space, overlapping, feeding each other, and collectively producing something richer than any single thread could achieve. These secondary threads are subplots — and knowing how to use them is one of the marks of a writer moving from competent to accomplished.
What Subplots Are For
Subplots aren’t decorations or distractions. They serve specific functions:
- Thematic depth — a subplot that mirrors or inverts the main theme shows the theme from a different angle, deepening the reader’s understanding
- Character revelation — secondary characters get their own lives, and those lives intersect with your protagonist in ways that reveal things about them both
- Pacing — cutting between the main plot and a subplot creates rhythm and can temporarily relieve or heighten tension
- Emotional texture — not everything in life relates directly to the central conflict; subplots create the sense of a world with more going on than just the main story
The Mirror and the Contrast
The most effective subplots relate to the main plot thematically. A novel about a character learning to trust again might have a subplot about two secondary characters who fail to trust each other — showing the cost of the protagonist’s central struggle from the outside.
Alternatively, a subplot can contrast the main arc — showing a character who succeeds where the protagonist fails (or vice versa), which illuminates what makes each journey different.
The Danger of Too Many
Subplots have a carrying capacity. Too many, and the novel fragments — readers can’t hold all the threads and stop caring about any of them. As a general guide: one or two substantial subplots per novel. Each should be able to stand independently as a small story while also contributing to the whole.
Your Drill
Take a draft you’ve already written — even a short one. Add one subplot involving a secondary character. Make sure it touches the main theme, even if obliquely. Blog about how the addition changed the texture of the story.
Written by
Redaksi Bacalah
Content Team — Bacalah