The Beginner’s Guide to Subplots: How To Write Them + 5 Subplots to Add To Your Novel

By Chelsea Hindle

"What's a subplot?" you may have asked as you clicked on this article. Well, chances are, if you've ever read a book, watched a movie, or listened to a story, you already know what a subplot is.

A subplot, as the name suggests, is a secondary plot in a story. The main plot is what you read about on the back cover of a novel, and what draws you to buy the novel in the first place. The subplots, by contrast, keep you engaged and turning pages in a frenzy.

The fact is, one plot alone is not enough to keep a story going. Skilled authors know how to lay extra obstacles, or subplots, in the way of their characters. Subplots are what keep stories ticking for chapter after chapter. Ideally, they all tie up into one neat little bow after the resolution of the main plot.

Are you still not sure what a subplot is? Well, let's take a look at a great example in the form of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The main plot is to get the dwarves' treasure back from the dragon, isn't it? So the main storyline follows Bilbo and the dwarves as they travel to the mountain and kill the dragon. But imagine if they walked and walked, got to the mountain, and killed the dragon. Voila, done.

Obviously, that'd be far too dull to bother reading. There'd be no way The Hobbit would live to be as beloved as it is. So, to fix the problem, Tolkien adds subplots along the way to keep us engaged and rooting for the characters. Bilbo gets captured by some trolls and the dwarves stop at Rivendell and converse with the elves. Thorin's map proves to be a puzzle and they're taken prisoner by the Goblin King. Bilbo plays a riddling game with Gollum and giant spiders attack the party. These are all exciting adventures that keep us turning pages and fearing for Bilbo's life.

So, we've established that subplots are vital to keeping your novel alive. We've also established what subplots actually are... but how do we write one?

That's a good question and I'm glad you asked! Today, I'll be presenting to you the Beginner's Guide to Subplots. We'll be examining how to write a good one, and we'll also be looking at five common subplots. So, to begin with, we'll take a look at two things that every successful subplot needs.

1. Subplots Must Raise the Stakes

The first, and most important, thing that subplots must do is that they must raise the stakes. The whole point of subplots is to keep us engaged, particularly during the "soggy middle" of the story.

For example, in The Hobbit, we see the stakes rise in every subplot that Bilbo encounters. When he's almost cooked alive by trolls, Bilbo realizes that he could die on this mission. When Elrond reads the runes on the map, Tolkien adds a time constraint to the story. When Bilbo riddles with Gollum, and later with Smaug, he is playing for his life. He also finds the Ring, which adds some suspense and mystery. What is this object? Where did it come from? What does it do?

When you’re writing subplots, all your subplots should be upping the stakes. It should be making your character’s main quest more difficult, more dangerous, or more likely to fail. If you resolve each subplot with no cost to the character, this will lead the reader to feel disappointed. For this reason, weak subplots are one of the main reasons for soggy and boring middle acts.

2. Subplots Must Show Us Something About The Characters

So, subplots must raise the stakes, but they must also show us something about your characters. Preferably, something that we haven't seen before, and might not have seen otherwise.

For example, we have no idea how clever and brave Bilbo is until he riddles with Gollum in the dark. We've seen little glimpses here and there, yes, but never the full picture. Up until this point, all we've seen of Bilbo is a fastidious, middle-aged gentlehobbit.

When you're writing your subplots, consider how your audience views your character. Do they see them as a simple farm boy? A brooding bad guy with no emotions? An assassin completely failing at her job? Now ask, how can you show a different side of them with this subplot? What if the sweet, innocent one loses a loved one? Would he show his strength? Lose his mind? Become vengeful? What if the villain abducts the mousy, elderly woman's found family? Would she turn up, guns blazing, to save her adopted grandchildren?

There are so many options here and it’s up to you as the author to decide what to do with it. What new side to your characters can you show with a subplot? How can you use this subplot to develop your character? 

Now that we’ve looked at that, let’s look at some common subplots and how to use them in our stories.

The Romance Subplot

If someone forced me to pick the most prolific of subplots, I would choose the romance subplot. Romance pops up everywhere, from fantasy to contemporary, to horror.

As its name implies, romance implies two characters become romantically with each other. The subplot follows them as they fall in love, and as they experience the ups and downs in life together.

Putting a romance into your story is a great move because it never fails to hook your readers. Romance subplots serve to deepen your audience's investment in your characters' lives. They allow readers to feel more a more personal connection to your story. Plus, it also provides prime opportunities for shipping, fanfiction, and fanart. And who doesn't love fanart?

Tips for Adding a Romance Subplot

Raising The Stakes: How will your planned romance raise the stakes in your novel? Romances are great at raising the stakes. For one thing, they give your hero or heroine a weakness. Could the villain exploit this in some way? It's a well-known trope of the superhero genre, that the girlfriend will get captured by the baddie. Once he has the girlfriend, the villain has leverage over the hero.

But the love interest can raise other complications as well. For example, in The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel has sworn never to fall in love. Why? Because she knows she's going to die and she doesn't want anyone to miss her. Then she finds herself falling for Gus, the handsome young cancer patient... This raises the stakes for both her and Gus, both of whom have terminal cancer.

Romance can also add stakes by threatening the character's other relationships. In the Harry Potter books, Harry falls in love with Ginny, his best friend's sister. He keeps his blossoming relationship a secret to avoid losing Ron's friendship. In the same series, Ron has a brief romance that ruins his relationship with his friend, Hermione.

Revealing Character: As we've said, subplots should reveal something new about the character. What can a romance reveal about a character? Well...anything you want!

Is your character a confident, logical person? What if they became a quivering wreck as soon as they realize they like someone? Is your character soft and compassionate? What if they become a fearsome warrior as soon as the villain threatens their partner?

Being in love tends to change the way we respond to things. When we're in love, we're riding an emotional high and this can make us completely different people. Have you ever noticed girls become giggly and flirty around the boy they like? Or boys that become shy and awkward when the girl they like smiles at them?

So, how can a romance affect your characters? What different side will they show when they fall in love? Will they become more confident or more insecure? More loving, or more fierce?

Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It: Sit down with a notebook or your laptop and do some brainstorming. If you want to add a romance, how is it going to up the stakes? How will it change and reveal your characters? Think about your romantic experience and how it changed you (or ask your parents, if your experience is lacking).

The Side Quest Subplot

Despite the use of the word "quest" here, this subplot is not confined to fantasy or adventure stories! The side quest is simply anything the protagonist needs to search for. For example, if the main quest is the search for the lost princess, but a side quest might be looking for a map to guide them. 

It works for contemporary too! In a modern novel, the main plot might be a teen girl trying to find a way to attend prom. A side quest might be an attempt to find the perfect dress or a suitable date.

Tips for Adding a Side Quest Subplot

Raising the Stakes:  The Side Quest can be great for raising the stakes since failure can jeopardize the main quest. If your protagonist can't find the map, they've got no way to find the princess. Or if our heroine can't find a suitable dress for the prom, she'll never be able to show her face in polite society again.

For example, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World features a Side Quest Subplot. This subplot follows Hiccup trying to find a prosthetic tail for Toothless. If he is successful, Toothless will be independent again, but it also raises the stakes. What if Toothless decides to leave Hiccup and live a more traditional dragon life? This subplot introduces an element of doubt and makes us wonder what will happen next.

Revealing Character: There are plenty of ways to use this subplot to reveal character. Consider the above example again. The prosthetic tail subplot reveals things about both Hiccup's and Toothless' character. It reveals that Hiccup is selfless and puts his friend's freedom above his own desires. It also reveals Toothless' loyalty when he chooses to return to Hiccup.

So, what facets of your character will come to light as they complete their quest? What will our heroine do if she can't find her one true dress? Could the dress hunting reveal a piece of backstory we've never seen before? What if our heroine is searching for a dress that looks like a dress of her deceased mother's? And what if our hero discovers the map...but it's guarded by a troll? In this situation, we could see his great courage, when up till now he's been shy. Or he could show his incredible wit and cunning when until now we've seen him as naïve.

Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It: What are some important side quests that your characters could go on? How could failure impact the main plot? What new facets of your character could come to light because of this subplot? Will we see a shy character show their smarts? Or does a character full of bravado show their insecurity?

The Redemption Arc Subplot

We're all familiar with the redemption arc, which we've covered in great detail on Kingdom Pen. It's an arc that takes a shadowy, sketchy character and molds them into a hero. When written well, it's so satisfying to read.

The redemption arc also makes a great subplot. For example, Loki's redemption arc is a subplot in Thor. Likewise, Darth Vader's redemption arc is a subplot in Star Wars. They provide a way for us to get inside the heads of side characters, and watch them change for the better.

While I won't go into how to write a redemption arc (there's plenty of KP articles on that topic), let's examine a few points.

Tips For Writing A Redemption Subplot

Raising the Stakes: Redemption subplots are brilliant at raising the stakes. When well-written they cause readers to care deeply about the character and to form a bond with them. This leads to the stakes rising as we fear for our new favorite character's life. What happens if the villain discovers that his son has betrayed him? What if the antihero hasn't truly changed his stripes?

We want to see the antiheroes become good guys, fighting for good. Whenever this is in jeopardy, it raises the stakes for us as readers. Will they listen to the hero and walk the path of redemption? Or will they heed the voice of the villain and return to their dark ways?

Revealing Character: This subplot can bring all sorts of interesting things to light. Why are they drawn to the light? What is their conscience like? If we've only seen this character as a villain, how can you show that they're changing? Do they feel guilt or shame for their actions? What do they look like when they're doing good instead of harm?

Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It: Ask yourself why this character is changing their spots, so to speak. Is it because they're conscience-stricken, like Jean Valjean? Or because they've fallen in love, like Mr. Rochester? How can this be woven into the plot to raise the stakes and deepen your character development?

The Mystery Subplot

The mystery subplot is prevalent in a myriad of genres but particularly haunts MG and YA books. Readers, as a general rule, love mystery subplots, even if mysteries aren't their usual genre. You can rarely go wrong with adding a well-written mystery subplot into your story.

Mystery subplots are also great for revealing aspects of worldbuilding. J.K. Rowling uses this technique to great effect in each of her Harry Potter books. Each book features a mystery plot, usually revolving around finding an item of power. These mystery plots allow the characters to explore and learn more about their world. Which, of course, allows us to learn more through them.

Mystery subplots can help carry us through slower parts of the main plot. But they do run the risk of taking over the main plot if you're not careful, so watch out for that. It's easy to hook readers on a mystery, but this can lead to them checking out once the characters solve the mystery. This is easily fixed by making sure your main plot and other subplots are well-developed.

Tips For Writing A Redemption Subplot

Raising the Stakes: A mystery subplot can raise the stakes in all manner of ways! For example, what's the cost if the hero doesn't unravel the mystery? What happens if they don't solve the murder of their co-worker? What are the consequences if our heroine doesn't find out who's trying to sabotage the prom?

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, a mysterious creature is roaming Hogwarts. Whenever a student sees it, they turn to stone and no one knows how to cure them. As the subplot progresses, more and more students fall under the spell of this creature. This causes mass panic and puts everyone's lives in danger. If Harry doesn't figure out what the creature is and how to stop it, who knows who'll be next?

Revealing Character: A mystery subplot gives characters plenty of opportunities to show their true colors. For example, you might see the quiet introvert thrive as their logic unravels the mystery. You might see the calm character become more and more frantic as the clock ticks down. Or the jokester might become serious as they realize the gravity of the situation.

In the above Harry Potter example, we see a new side to the character of Ginny. During the mystery, we find out that she's at the bottom of it. Ginny, not Draco, was the one who accidentally released the creature on Hogwarts. After this revelation, we discover that Ginny feels unimportant and left out. Her brothers overshadow her in every way and she's bitter about it. Since we've never seen this side of her character before, we're intrigued.

Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It: What sort of mysteries does your world hold? Are there any ways to weave them into the plot and reveal some of your worldbuilding? What sort of things come to light as your mystery unravels?

The Competition Subplot

We approach the end of our article and examine our final subplot: the competition subplot. As its name suggests, the competition subplot involves a competition of some kind. It might be a sport, such as the Quidditch Game subplots in Harry Potter. Or it might be a competition of talent, such as in Spin the Dawn. Or a test of endurance, such as in The Hunger Games. Finally, it could be a battle of wits, such as in The Princess Bride. There are plenty of options!

Competitions are frequent subplots in all genres and for good reason. Number One is that they're so much fun! Who doesn't love a good riddling contest, where if you lose you get eaten? And who doesn't feel a little smug when our hero beats his nemesis in fencing? The fact is, competition subplots are a great way to get your audience to root for the hero.

Tips for Writing a Competition Subplot

Raising The Stakes: The stakes depend on what the prize is, or what the cost is if they lose. For example, if Bilbo loses his contest with Gollum, he gets eaten. If he wins, he has a guide to show him the way out of the goblin tunnels. These are pretty high stakes if you ask me.

A novel that does a great job at fixing high stakes to the competition is The Scorpio Races. In this book, both of our main characters want to win the titular races. Puck wants to win so that she doesn't become homeless. Sean wants to win so he can buy both his and his horse's freedom from their abusive master. If either of them loses, the stakes are high. And, of course, only one of them can win. This means the book has a sense of tension woven throughout the story. Who will win? And who will lose?

Revealing Character:  Competition subplots are great for highlighting what your characters care about. What are they willing to sacrifice to win? How far will they go?

Catching Fire is a great example of this. The main plot is to win the Games, but there are smaller competitions as subplots. Each one serves to highlight different parts of the heroes' characters. In one section, Katniss and Finnick become trapped with hundreds of jabberjays. In this scene, we learn about Finnick's true love, also a former Game competitor. In another subplot, Finnick resuscitates Peeta, leading Katniss (and us) to wonder why he's helping them. 

So, does a previously kind character become ruthless as soon as they're competing? Does your character show his morals by refusing to kill? Does a competition highlight a character's inferiority complex and desire to win? This subplot has incredible potential if you can work out how best to harness it.

Your Mission Should You Choose To Accept It: What kind of competition might your world have? Would it be a baking competition? An archery competition? A fight-to-the-death competition? A horse riding competition? And how would your characters react in a competition? What do they value and how can that be used to develop their personalities more? 

In conclusion, subplots are a necessary part of your novel and help to keep it running smoothly. They are what keep us engaged and turning pages. Subplots are often the instigators of change in your characters and help reveal new sides to them that we’ve never seen before. Subplots certainly are challenging to write, but as with everything else, it all hinges on practice. Practice, practice, practice, as my teachers always say! Hopefully, this article was helpful and has given you a jumping-off point to writing great subplots.  

And that’s a wrap for today, folks! Now I want to hear from you! What are your favorite subplots to read? What tips did you pick up from today’s article? And do you have tips of your own for writing fantastic subplots?