(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . WriteOn! Plots within Plots... [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-09 Like peeling an onion. Only less likely to make you wipe your eyes. Every story needs a plot. A character needs to want something, and something else needs to stand in the way. There are stakes (consequences) if the character doesn’t get what they want… and sometimes if they do. However, one plot is not enough. There is an external plot (going from point A to point B, throwing a ring in a pit, finding Who Dun It), and there is an internal plot (character arc), of the character going from point A to point B (timid to self-assured, lonely to happily in love, innocent to villain). In a short story, those are enough. One plot. One arc. Short stories require intimacy, too — of place, time, or characters. They are immediate in some fashion. Novella? If you’ve got a novella, you’re dealing with at least two plots. And a novel? Probably 3+. Wait why more? If you follow Save the Cat then you’ll see a lot of A-plot and B-plot. The B-plot is a subordinate (or sub) plot, that ends up holding the key to solving the main plot. (see 2A for introducing the B plot) If you’re dealing with a romance novel, there’s also talk about the A plot and B plot. The romance is the A-plot (and the characters must get together in the end for a genre romance). The B-plot is going to be te means of bringing the characters together — either for the first meeting, or as an adhesion point where they find out they have to work together. The B-plot can be something tied to an Inner Wound (ooh, character arc), or can be what they think will keep them apart -or it can be what they need to realize they really can be together. In romantic suspense, the B-plot is usually trying to kill at least one of them (so not something that exactly solves all their problems!) But subplots, in a more generic sense that applies to all genres, are smaller-scale arcs that complement or contrast with the main plot. They should all harmonize. They might last the entire novel (romantic subplots often do) or they might be resolved along the way, but be an impetus for a moment of character development for your Main Characters. These might be tied to the MC, or they might be what secondary characters are trying to achieve, fleshing out their motivations and making them into more rounded characters. Think of a novel like music. A fugue has multiple strong themes. This would be something like a romantic suspense, with two co-equal plots. However, there are other works (most works) have a central theme. A refrain, perhaps. The subplots are your harmonization. Perhaps they are the transition from one movement to the next. They shouldn’t take the listener away from the intent of the piece, or it becomes noise. An irritant. Instead, they should enhance, deepen, or otherwise modify and support the main theme. How many subplots? Aaah — there is no real answer to this. BUT if you have too few, your novel will feel very straightforward and your characters will struggle to breathe and live. If you have too many? It’s cacophony, and your reader will struggle to stay invested because they won’t have a central theme to follow. Another example: In a mystery, Someone Dun It. The MC is trying to figure out who. They may also be trying to accomplish something else: date that handsome shy waiter in the corner, or come up with enough money to take a cruise, or perhaps they’re trying to uncover the medical secret that will cure cancer. Motivation? Yes. Subplot? Probably. Should it wind up harmonizing? YES. Now, the antagonist also has their motivation and their plot. They want to Dun It. All of it. Your secondary characters will each want something, too. There’s a reason they’re all there to be suspects. Perhaps one of them becomes a Plucky Sidekick because she wants a parental figure in her life/money for college. Perhaps one of them is trying to get that cure for cancer to save their uncle’s life. Which of these are mere mentions and which become subplots is a work of art. Does this hold true for other genres? Yes, absolutely. How about an example? Let’s look at American Beauty. Ok, it’s not a book, but still. The MC wants to feel fulfilled. He’s in a marriage that has lost its spark, he’s got a daughter that just wants out, he’s got a job that’s draining. So his goal is to do something. He quits his job and starts trying to find himself. His wife? Also wants more than the superficially perfect life she has, but doesn’t know how. She has an affair — ironically, around the same time he’s rediscovering the energy to want what they used to have. A subplot that contrasts, or harmonizes, with the main plot! His neighbors! A gay couple that moves in and are happy. Do they have a subplot? No. They are there for motivation and development of other plots. His other neighbor, former military and apparently content with his life. Aaaaah, apparently just another presence, because the movie mostly focuses on his son and his son’s relationship to drugs and interest in the MC’s daughter. His son is the impetus and means for the MC’s daughter to get out. THIS is a subplot. It contrasts with and harmonizes with the main plot. She wants to get out of her stale, empty current life, just like her father. Except her father ends up getting out of the externals that made him feel stale, whereas she decides to leave entirely — with the boy next door. AND HERE IS THE TWIST. (stop if you’ve not seen it and want to) The MC is shot. The wife, who had an affair, has a gun. The daughter wanted to get out. Who did it? … the next door neighbor, who’d been hiding a part of himself to have an Outwardly Acceptable Life, who came onto the MC because he thought that at the moment of the MC finding himself, they could find each other. And was rejected. Harmonization and contrast. Every person’s plot was somehow related to finding out who they wanted to be and acting on that. In good ways and in bad ways. In ways that harmonized and ways that contrasted. Food for Thought Have you considered the different plots and subplots of your work? How do they interact with each other? Are they co-equal or subordinate? Tonight’s Challenge! Write a novel with harmonizing plots. … Point. Tonight’s Challenge! Take a Main Character and have them learn something thanks to helping a Secondary achieve what they need. Write On! will be a regular Thursday night diary (8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific) until it isn’t. 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