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Supa Story #8: Subplots Are Your Story’s Secret Sauce 🍲

Subplots are the muscles that give your story shape, depth, and strength.

Hey Storyteller

Last week, we explored how to weave powerful themes into your story, ensuring it resonates with your audience. Now, let’s add layers of flavour to your storytelling with subplots.

If the main plot is your story’s backbone, subplots are the muscles that give it shape and strength. They add depth, reinforce the theme, and make your characters and world feel more alive.

What is a Subplot?

A subplot is a secondary story running alongside your main plot. It’s like a supporting act in a concert: it doesn’t overshadow the headliner but adds to the overall experience, you get the gist, yeah? Subplots can:

  • Deepen your audience’s understanding of the theme.

  • Highlight different aspects of your protagonist or other characters.

  • Offer moments of levity or tension to balance the main narrative.

How to Craft Effective Subplots

1. Tie Them to the Main Theme
Every subplot should connect to the central theme or conflict. In Black Panther (we should get the opportunity to write the third instalment for these weekly mentions 😀), Nakia’s subplot about her vision for Wakanda’s role in the world reinforces T’Challa’s internal struggle and the movie’s overarching theme of responsibility.

2. Develop Secondary Characters
Use subplots to shine a light on supporting characters. In The Lord of the Rings, Sam’s loyalty to Frodo is a subplot that enriches the story’s themes of friendship and sacrifice.

3. Create Contrasts or Parallels
Subplots can contrast with or mirror the main story. For example, in Pride and Prejudice, Jane and Bingley’s straightforward romance contrasts Elizabeth and Darcy’s more complicated journey, offering fresh perspectives on love and misunderstanding.

4. Build Tension or Offer Relief
Subplots can escalate tension or provide much-needed comic relief. Think of the hilarious subplot involving the Weasley twins’ mischief in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

5. Don’t Overcrowd the Story
Less is more. A few well-developed subplots are better than an overload that distracts from the main story.

🎬 Take-Home Exercise

  1. Identify a subplot from a story you love. What purpose does it serve (e.g., developing a theme, enriching a character)?

  2. Look at your current story:
    – What subplots do you already have? Are they adding value?
    – If you don’t have any, brainstorm one or two ideas that connect to your main theme or conflict.

  3. Ensure your subplots weave back into the main plot by the end of the story, creating a cohesive narrative.

Subplots are where your story gets its secret sauce. Use them wisely, and you’ll leave your audience with a rich, layered experience they’ll never forget.

Next, we’ll explore worldbuilding and how to make your setting feel like a living, breathing part of your story. Don’t miss it and keep writing!

Yours-in-Storytelling,
Ayobola Eniola,
For Emerge Story Company.

P.S. If this helped you, you can also share with your writing friends and encourage them to subscribe here to get more of this goodness — don’t enjoy this alone 😉