Plot and Subplot

Pantsing can take you far, but plotting might get you where you plan to go more easily.

Pantsing -- Writing by the seat of your pants. This happens when you just sit down in front of a blank page and start typing. You make up everything as you go, let the words flow, and hopefully end up in a good place. Also called "discovery writing."

Plotting -- This involves outlining or creating some type of structured plan before you start writing. It can happen in a wide variety of ways from using the formal structure you learned in school to general lists or even spreadsheets.

Plantsing -- A combination of pantsing and plotting.

The most important thing to remember about all of these methods of writing is that neither one is better, more creative, more "right" than any other. People get hung up on this sometimes. I see a lot of people who proclaim they are "Proud to be a pantser!" or similar. I see people expressing the belief that outlines are too rigid and get you trapped in a non-creative, non-discovery mode.

I personally think those ideas are silly. Outlines aren't concrete. No literary police bust down your door and drag you away if you diverge from your plan. The most important rule of writing pertains to the pantsing vs. plotting debate or decision.

Do what works for the story and for you.

How do you know if you are a pantser, plotter, or plantser? You try things out in a few different ways and figure out how you produce in the best way personally. Different projects can work in different ways, too. Stop worrying about it.

Even if you are a pantser and write without an outline at the start, chances are your story includes many of the recognized elements like inciting incident, rising action, and a climax. If you want a more structure approach to creating a quality story, consider one of these popular plotting plans.

The Hero's Journey

• Everyday life in the ordinary world
• Character's call to adventure -- inciting incident
• Refusal of the call -- Hell, no, I'm not doing that!
• Meeting a mentor
• Crossing the threshold -- Okay, I guess I will do that.
• Tests and complications
• Approaching the goal
• The greatest challenge or ordeal
• Reward (but not the ultimate one yet!)
• Journey back to their life
• Resurrection -- the final challenge and rebirth
• Return to their everyday (changed!) life

Three Act Structure

• Act One
  • Ordinary world
  • Inciting incident -- the call to action
  • Plot point one -- crossing the threshold
• Act Two
  • Rising action -- struggles and challenges
  • Midpoint -- big something gets in the way
  • Plot point two -- tested and fails
• Act Three
  • Dark point before the dawn -- deep poop
  • Climax -- the final battle
  • Denouement -- heading back to the new everyday reality

Save the Cat Beat Sheets

• Opening Imagine -- dramatic intro
• Set-up -- everyday world -- Start hinting at the theme
• Catalyst -- inciting incident
• Debate - refusal of the call to adventure/inciting incident/catalyst
• Break into two -- journey begins
• B story - subplot begins
• Promise of the premise -- stuff happens that needs to happen in the genre/plot
• Midpoint -- plot twist to introduce new goal conflict
• Antagonist grows stronger
• Everything's lost -- the dark point
• Break into three -- new information fuels new effort
• Finale -- climax
• Final image -- things have both changed and gone back to the everyday experience

Story Circle by Dan Harmon

• Zone of comfort -- everyday life
• They want something
• Unfamiliar situation -- inciting incident
• Adaptation when facing struggles
• False victory -- get what they think they want, but nope!
• Pay a price -- they figure out that's not what they needed
• Return to the everyday with new truth

As you can see, this one lacks a huge climax or dramatic scenes. It was originally created for sitcoms, so it might work a lot better for serial fiction rather than full-length novels.

Seven Point Story Structure

• The Hook -- everyday world
• Plot point one -- call to adventure or inciting incident
• Pinch point one -- something goes wrong
• Midpoint -- starts to take action instead of getting acted upon
• Pinch point two -- things go seriously wrong
• Plot point two -- they discover their power to overcome / solve the conflict
• Resolution -- main story conflict is solved through personal transformation

One thing you might notice is that they're all pretty much the same in the end. While literary or slice-of-life stories may not have the same type of narrative arcs as commercial fiction, everything else stands on the same foundation.

A character has a problem. Something forces them to confront it. They go do stuff and things go wrong for a while. Then, something big happens and they either ultimately succeed or fail. The end.

That doesn't mean your plotline should follow one single path. There can be a million twists and turns on the path between the elements. (Okay, not a million. That would get annoying for the reader.) If you're unsure about where your story should go next, these plotting plans can help.

Not every story has a complicated plot. Some are rather linear... and that's okay as long as they're interesting! However, it's a lot easier to make things interesting if you construct a deeper, wider plot.

What does this mean?

A deep plot dives deep inside the characters. That doesn't mean they spend all their time navel gazing or thinking deep thoughts about life and their situation. It means there is more internal conflict to explore and get in the way of accomplishing story goals.

A wide plot is more external. The subplots affted the protagonist from the outside and more things are going on 'out there' instead of deep within.

Which is better? Neither. They're two ways to increase the intrigue and possibilities of your story. Can you use both? Absolutely.

Can you go too far? Yes.

If you complexify your story too much, readers will get lost. If you send them down too many rabbit holes, they may not care about the main plot anymore. Side characters take over from main characters. Subplots birth sub-subplots. You end up with a bathtub full of spaghetti when you really wanted stuffed shells with a sumptuous marinara.

When people ask the question, "Is it better to write a character driven or plot driven book?" the usual answer is, "Both!" I agree. However, there's nothing wrong with identifying your story in one of these binary ways. First, you need to understand what they mean.

What is a Character Driven Book?

Get ready for a big shock. A character driven book is (gasp!) focused on the main character. It can have more than one main character, but not usually. It's a story about a person's life or a particular part of it.  It's not about what happens to the character or what they do, really. It's about how they think, feel, react, plan, and transform over the course of the story.

Many character driven books are literary. Genre books are usually more focused on the stuff going on externally instead of the thoughts and feelings churning internally.

What is a Plot Driven Book?

With a primary focus on plot, these books cover events, situations, external conflicts, and the stuff that happens to the character or the things they make happen. Of course, the character can still have plenty of internal conflicts, think, feel, etc. In fact, they should if you want to grab reader attention.

But What About Both?

Yeah, the majority of great books have both highly interesting and dynamic characters with internal conflicts AND engaging plots with unique events, twists, and conflict. Understanding the specific focus of your book matters to a degree. It helps you make everything work the way it's supposed to work for reader enjoyment.

If someone picks up a literary epic about one woman's search for meaning in her life and gets car chases and court cases, they may very well be disappointed. If someone picks up a science fiction story about a cosmic war over Mars territory and gets an introspective captain philosophizing about his life's work, they may toss your book in the bin.

Character driven or plot driven? Understanding the difference can help you craft a more effective story.

Subplots = side plots, secondary plots, supporting plots

Subplots are plots that carry on alongside, underneath, or at the same time as the main plot. They frequently involve the main character but could also include side characters.

Think about your life for a second. You undoubtedly have multiple plots going on: stuff at work or school, trying to get the attention of an attractive person, issues with your family, the international spy problem you haven't quite fit into your schedule yet, dragons.

In a book, you pick one of those as the most important, but all the other ones don't just stop because you're focused on it. They're subplots. In a novel, they can't just happen, though. They have to matter.

What Do Subplots Do?

-- Support the main plot

-- Reveal more characterization

-- Demonstrate story themes

-- Deepen the overall story experience

-- Manage pacing for more emotional impact

-- Fill in story gaps and keep the reader interested

-- Set up the main plot for the next book in the series

Another not-so-literary reason to have subplots is to make your story longer. Yup, get the word count up there to market-acceptable levels. If you want to write and publish a novel, you need 50k words or so. Subplots can help, but only if they matter to the story!

Subplots are NOT fluff. Fluff is bad.

You plot a subplot the same way you plot a story. It just has to fit in less space and take up less of the reader's attention than the main plot.

Character has a goal. Obstacles block achievement of the goal. Conflict. Resolution.

Important Subplot Considerations

1 - Subplots are smaller. If your main storyline is about saving the world from radioactive donkeys from space, the subplot may be about the farmer who saves the day dealing with her estranged military son.

2 -- Subplots are often internal. If the main plot is a courtroom drama focused on ridding the streets of gang warfare, the subplot may be about the lawyer's true calling to be an itinerant lute player despite his dead father's insistence on law school.

3 -- Subplots involve side characters sometimes. If the main plot is about a young woman's struggles to become the first person on Neptune, the subplot could be from the POV of the competing male astronaut who learns about his internalized sexism when dealing with his hard-working mother who raised him.

4 -- Subplots from the antagonist's POV work. At least I think so. I'm a big fan of making relatable antagonists. Everyone is the hero of their own story, after all. Unless you're going for the Lord or Lady of All Evil type antagonist, they will have subplot-type stuff going on, too.

It's not hard to understand what a subplot is in theory, but actually coming up with good ones might present a challenge. How do you know if your subplot works for your story? How do you even come up with one in the first place? First, remember that every subplot must serve the overall plot. It has to have something to do with everything else going on, at least tangentially. Second, consider some of these examples for your next project.

Romantic Subplots are some of the most common.

External Subplot Examples

Any storyline going on outside of the main plot is an external subplot. These comprise events or occurrences that affect the plot and characters in some way, but do not actively follow them. They can involve the main or side characters.

Some examples include:

-- A war going on in the kingdom (while your characters go on a quest that has nothing to do with the war itself)

-- Bad weather or a disaster (when the plot is not "survive the disaster")

-- Running from the car repo man (while your character tries to win the main-plot court case as a struggling lawyer)

Internal Subplot Examples

Instead of events happening around the characters that touch on the main plot but don't define it, internal subplots focus on emotions, stresses, and personal problems that the main or side characters have to deal with. These aren't just negative personality traits. They are plots that require some type of resolution.

Some examples include:

-- Getting out of a failed marriage (when the main plot is not romance or recovery)

-- Handling addiction of any kind (when the plot involves saving a neighborhood from an evil landlord)

-- Organizing a neighborhood event with a sidekick that reminds them of someone they hate (in a story that's about busting a crime ring)

As you can see, every subplot has both external and internal factors. When something affects someone's personality, mood, or ability to function, it creates unique situations and events that touch on the main plot, too.

The first paragraph of a story needs a hook. I don't personally subscribe to the idea that the first line is most important. Anyone who only gives you one line to catch their attention is not a very good reader.

What is a hook?

The good-ol' fishing analogy works here. A

hook is something that snags the reader.

For a hook to work, however, you need bait. Bait creates interest. The hook makes the catch. You need both in that first paragraph (or first couple of paragraphs) to get the reader to keep reading.

Bait to Create Interest

You create interest with everything you write... hopefully.

Bait comes in three forms: plot, character, and writing. Something has to happen that sparks the reader's interest, they need to meet an intriguing character, or your writing has to be unique and emotive enough to have an effect.

In the beginning of a story -- and in fishing -- the bait is firmly attached to the hook. It's a package deal. They work together to snare the reader and keep them turning pages.

Hook to Make the Catch

These common "rules" of a good hook exist because they work. No one wants a boring beginning, especially the reader. If you bore a person in the first paragraph, they may read the whole page to see if things get better. If you bore them for a whole page, they'll toss your book on the pile and move on to something else.

1 -- Start in media res.  This means "in the midst of things" in Latin. Don't start an hour before something happens or two hours after it does. Start with something important to the plot actually happening.

2 -- Show intriguing characterization. People show their personality when something challenges them in some way. A normal, everyday person going through their normal, everyday routine is not an opportunity to show character.

3 -- Create a unique setting. Which is more interesting, an apartment kitchen or a dark alley? The quiet lounge on an interstellar freighter or right outside a malfunctioning airlock?

4 -- Inject emotion. Do not go overboard, however, because readers don't know your characters yet. They aren't emotionally invested. Your character experiencing an emotional change helps set the hook.

5 -- Forget description for now. Is the color of your main character's hair or the style of their living room sofa really that important at this point? Will the reader read on just because the story is about a blonde with a pillow-strewn love seat instead of a brunette with a modern futon? No.

6 -- Write well. Every sentence in the book should follow this rule, but it is especially important at the start. Reveal your voice. Show your skills. Woo readers with words.

No one wants a squishy middle. As mentioned in the previous section on hooks, you need something that interests the reader and keeps them engaged with your book continuously if you want them to get to the end. In truth, a book is kind of like a series of hooks continuously catching and keeping a reader's attention.

One of the common complaints I see readers making deals with boring middle sections that seem to drag on and do not include enough story to keep them engaged. This problem usually comes down to one of three things:

1 – Not enough main plot to fill a whole book.

2 – Lack of intriguing subplots.

3 – Boring, one-dimensional, or static main characters.

Ideally, your novel should have none of these problems at all. If you find yourself getting bored in the middle of writing your book or if you have readers who find it easy to put down the story and not pick it up again, you need a solution for your squishy middle.

Not Enough Main Plot

If you look at most of the usual plot construction templates, a story starts with some type of inciting incident that propels the character into the story and finishes with an exciting climax. Between those two points is a zigzag line that follows an upward trajectory. This is sometimes called rising action for each plot point is called something different depending on the structure you are following.

No matter what the chart looks like or what you call it, the points in between the beginning and the end need to engage the reader just as much or even more. After all, by the time they get to the climax, the reader should be engaged with the story enough to at least stick around to see how everything works out.

Create these interesting plot points or hooks by exploring the main plot and figuring out what could get in the way of the resolution. Do not add conflicts for the sake of adding interest, however. They need to have something to do with the main plot.

Choose Plot Points that Make Sense

Lack of Intriguing Subplots

Short stories rarely have subplots. Novellas may have one or two if they are on the long side. Novels can have two or more depending on their length and the overall complexity of their main plot. A novel without any subplots is at high risk for having a squishy middle because you simply do not have enough going on in the main character's world to keep things interesting.

Learn more about adding subplots above.

Boring Main Characters

Boring main characters that the readers do not care about is a cardinal sin of writing fiction. If the reader does not care what happens to your character or what they do, they won't read your book. Even if your character is generally likable or intriguing at the start, the middle of your story will drag if they do not change, grow, or battle against some inner conflict.

Unless you are writing character-driven literary fiction, character growth and exploration is probably not enough to avoid boredom in the middle of your story. After all, most interesting growth and change comes about due to external situations or stimuli. In other words, a character who learned something about themselves and makes a change because the world is on fire or their wife leaves them is much more interesting than one who sits around pondering their place in the universe on their couch at home.

The end of a story doesn't have to be positive to be satisfying. You can have tragic endings that satisfy the reader, too.

The problem comes when you write an ending that doesn't deliver on the promise of the book. The reader is left unsatisfied and will probably not reach for your next book.

What Makes a Story Ending Unsatisfying

The reader expects some type of payoff for sticking around through the whole plot.

Story questions and plot arcs should be resolved. Characters should get what they want or what they deserve. Not every question, arc, and character needs resolution, but something better if you want happy readers.

That doesn't mean tragic endings are bad. Tragedies in which the character does not achieve their goals can still satisfy if the outcome makes sense in the story. Readers can enjoy a tragedy if it demonstrates the natural progression of the plot lines.

No matter what, the end of a story must show that the rest of the book mattered.

Unsatisfying Endings On Purpose

For certain types of books, you may choose to leave the reader unsatisfied on purpose. There are two ways of doing this.

Cliffhangers

"Until next time..." endings work in series and serials for some readers. You leave your characters and readers dangling over the edge of a proverbial cliff and do not give them a satisfying outcome. They have to wait for the next story to find out what happens.

I personally don't enjoy 100% cliffhangers. Wrap something up and leave a series plot arc with open questions for the next story. I've seen comments in writers' groups that run the gamut from extreme hate to passionate love for cliffhangers.

Some people consider them a money grab since the reader is "forced" to buy the next book just to finish one story. From a writer's perspective, this could be a savvy marketing move to increase read through. Use at your own discretion.

Ambiguity

Ambiguous (unclear or open to interpretation) endings make a lot of readers upset because everything doesn't tie up nice and neat at the end. Other readers love these because they screw with their mind and expectations. This isn't about a clever twist with an unexpected surprise (Usual Suspects movie, for example). It's about not revealing the answer or explanation for something important.

These endings create more questions. One example off the top of my head is King's The Long Walk. Who is that figure in black at the end of the race? Does Ray live or die? It's meant to feel unsettling, and some readers like it.

Other readers find ambiguity unsatisfying in the extreme. It's a risky move.

Really Bad Endings to Avoid

Judgement time. There are some endings that will always leave readers unsatisfied and probably make them think you are a rotten writer.

It was all just a dream! -- This type of ending states that the rest of the story meant nothing, none of the consequences were real, and the characters were totally unaffected. This also goes for characters who suddenly realize they're dead. It might have worked in The Sixth Sense, but it really won't work anymore.

Then magic/god/superhero swooped in and saved us! -- Deus ex machina. The god in the machine. If all the conflict in the book gets magically fixed at the end by something outside the reality of the book, no one will like you. LOTR wouldn't have been quite as engaging if those giant eagles did show up and just carry Frodo to Mt. Doom.

I had it in my pocket all along! -- Silly coincidences or dumb luck that pop up are very similar to Deus ex machina without a sentient force involved. The hero trips and just happens to hit the secret panel just right. The villain drives his car off a cliff when he hits a patch of ice. Would any mystery story ever be as satisfying if all the clues just showed up when the detective needed them?

First, make sure you understand the difference between series and serials.

What Is a Series?

A series is an ordered collection of stories that are each self-contained and complete but have something do with each other. They often share a setting, characters, and theme.

What Is a Serial?

A serial is an ongoing story that is chopped into multiple parts or scenes. The closest comparison is a TV sitcom or drama. The story keeps rolling along week after week.

Plotting Series and Serials

Stories, series, and serials are kinda fractal. Each scene follows something similar to each chapter's plot structure, which follows the structure of the entire book, which extends into the series, etc.

You've probably heard writers talk about series arcs. Those are the big, ongoing plot or personal issues that continue on past the end of book one. They still have rising action, conflict, climaxes, etc. They're just spread out. They find resolution by the end of the series, not the individual books.

Should serials have arcs that stretch beyond the single 'episode?' Probably. Think of your favorite TV shows. They undoubtedly have plot points or character subplots that encourage you to tune in to the next show.