Jon has got me thinking about this from one of his replies in the 'novel length' thread.
I am currently taking a break from my second novel - which has quite an important subplot - to re-write my first, which doesn't.
People talk of subplots in terms of being useful tools to up wordcounts and of course they have many other uses ( eg add a new dimension to the MC) but i'd really appreciate anyone's view as to whether a potential publisher/agent would consider the lack of a substantial subplot something to worry about.
Does it matter, as long as your main story continues to hold interest?

I am trying to think of a book I have read with no subplot, and, offhand, can't...maybe this answers my question.

Sammy

I love a good subplot, as it gives me room to manuever in the story (never could spell that word!). It can give you space to create time lapses, and also a window into what else is going on in the world of the story. Making the subplot collide or be influenced by the main plot, especially with the characters oblivious, is brilliant fun!

I have one running through TA, about a cannibal and an astrally projecting headmistress that reads like a little vignette when read apart from the main story. It gets pretty gory, but was a scream to write.

JB

You're absolutely right about time lapses, JB, and i'd never really thought it about it like that, but that's what the sub-plot in my 2nd book does do. I've also had a lot of fun with it (the MC is spied on by her elderly neighbour who eventually manipulates her into wearing his late wife's clothes...fun for me but, i know, a little lame compared to cannibals...)

But, is the need for a subplot considered one of those core rules of writing, such as, 'limit backstory', 'don't info-dump', 'show don't tell'...?

Sammy

It sounds quite daunting, but as soon as your MC has a friend, and they have a partner, and you tell us something about what happens in that relationship, that's your subplot. The MC's work is a subplot if anything happens there, even if the main drive of the story is her love-life.

There's nothing to stop one writing an incredibly intense novel involving two people and one plot and no more, but I think the writing would have to be extraordinarily good. Certainly, an agent/editor would notice if it wasn't, and ask herself what was missing. People want the books they buy to be satisfying in substance if not in length, and only the greatest prose-masters and mistresses can manage that with such slim material. The further you go towards the commercial end of the spectrum - and if you're playing in the field that demands 100,000 words that's where you are - the more the need is for lots and lots of plot, which is inevitably going to include sub-plot.

I'd be wary of pushing in a sub-set of characters and plot that didn't link very intimately in with the main one. Events in one must affect what happens to the other, or why (wonder the readers) are they in the same book at all? Elizabeth Bowen did it in The Heat of the Day, but then, she's Elizabeth Bowen. And I would always try to have a subplot that links into the main plot not only with related characters, but also in its themes. Otherwise it just seems tacked-on for the sake of the wordcount. I think this came up on your earlier thread, Sammy - that if the main theme is infidelity, say, then a subplot could be a lighter or sadder or different aspect of it - even drawing parallels, say, between sexual betrayal and political betrayal. LeCarré is brilliant at that, old misogynist that he is. In fact I think the art of the really good subplot is that when reading the book you don't actually think of them as separate elements, and can't separate them out mentally till afterwards, if at all. You just want to know what happens to all these fascinating people.

Emma

'limit backstory', 'don't info-dump', 'show don't tell'...?

I don't like to think of these as rules but guidelines for beginners, but if we're talking in those terms then certainly I would think a novel should contain something beyond the single journey from A to Z of the main characters.

Yes, I'd agree with that, Emma, and the subplot in my 2nd book is linked by the fact that the elderly neighbour is recently widowed and the MC is recently separated..they find common ground in their lonliness.
My first book delves into the lives of minor characters, without really going anywhere, apart from the MC's colleague who, it turns out at the end, had a disastrous relationship with the MC's love interest.
I find it hard to try and see the book from a reader's point of view, because i'm so involved. Maybe the time has come to find a reader!

Sammy

Well, actually, TA is a collection of six or seven subplots that meet in one rather explosive encounter!

I like how you define it Emma, as I hadn't thought of it like that either.

JB

Sub-plots are really just part of everyday life and in that respect should normally occur in most work that deals with normal human beings. Unless we're talking about people grown in a tank and indoctrinated into one single task that they perform every minute they're not asleep then there's scope for sub-plots.

In most of what I've read, sub-plots that deal with hobbies or relatives often seem to become important later in the book. Perhaps someone who used to ride motorcycles but who hasn't since a major crash has to overcome his fear to ride a bike and escape, or a character who has apparently dealt well with the death of a loved one later explodes in anger when confronted with a whinger.

Unfortunately these sub-plots are sometimes horribly telegraphed (more often in the movies perhaps) where as soon as you see the hero sailing or climbing you just know he's gonna need to do that later in the movie to save someone's life. However in a way that's kind of realistic as well - I wouldn't escape anything on a motorbike because I can't ride one.

I also think that sub-plots can provide that lead into difficult scenes. As I mentioned in the other thread, having friends or relatives 'outside' of the main plot allows us to see aspects of the MCs that simply wouldn't be discussed. You could have an MC discussing an embarrassing event from their past with an aunt or grandma in a way he never could with his Captain, for example, and in doing so we also learn that he has an aunt - showing not telling

Jon

Emma, I feel thoroughly put in my place and my beginner's dream bubble of thinking i'm a writer has been well and truly burst!!

Sammy

I'm a little confused. Aren't you describing character traits and hobbies? I thought a subplot was another story running parrallel to to the main one, so say the purpose of the book is Mr Jacks to escape a military camp, fall in love with a Nazi general and thereby get out, the adventures of Mr Jack's friend, Pugsy, who also desires to break out, would be considered the sub plot?

JB

<Added>

subˇplot n.
A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work or film. Also called counterplot, underplot.

That's right isn't it?

Yeh, I was wondering about that, JB. My MC has a life away from the main plot and her love interest, but nothing with a beginning, middle and end running parallel to the main story, so I don't consider any of that writing to be a subplot.

Sammy

Emma, I feel thoroughly put in my place and my beginner's dream bubble of thinking i'm a writer has been well and truly burst!!

Oh, Sammy, that wasn't my intention at all! But one of the great features of getting better as a writer is feeling that you're getting worse, because your awareness of the possibilities expands faster than your own technical capacity to seize them. Just at the moment I'm eyeing what I planned for my new novel, and feeling like a model train enthusiast who's just volunteered to run Railtrack.

Emma

Emma, I know the feeling. I have to implement the latter day Israeli war of 2007!

JB

In my view, a sub-plot is any other 'story' that isn't the main thrust and in this respect a relative with an illness, a difficult decision at work, or the pursuit of a hobby could easily be considered as such. Just becuase it's not overtly and intricately linked with the main plot doesn't mean it's not a sub-plot (and I'd argue that those that deviate the most from the main story are possibly the most interesting).

I'm happy to be corrected but I don't think any sub-plot has to necessarily begin, continue or end in parallel with the main story either.

J



<Added>

Oh, and Sammy - don't feel daunted - 99.9% of what I'm talking about is just my own opinions and until I can point to a row of my published works in Waterstones that's all they'll be.

<Added>

I've just decided on my own definition of a sub-plot as being any part of a story that, in another film or novel, could be the main story.

For example, a novel about a daring bank raid where one of the gang has a dying mother (perhaps he's stealing to pay for her treatment?) could be switched around to become a novel about someone dealing with their mother's illness and who commits petty crimes to cover the costs.

J

Thanks Jon!
In retrospect I agree, a subplot doesn't necessarily have to run parallel to the main one, but does have to relate in some way, otherwise what's the point? For example, would an ill relative show a softer side to an otherwise hardnosed MC.

The writing I was talking about, which I don't think is subplot, is eg my MC's nights out with the girls, trips into Paris, days at work - they paint a picture of location and do reveal a bit more about the MC, but don't give the reader anything to focus on or wonder about and make them intrigued to read on.

Sammy


<Added>

Emma,

I know you didn't and I understand exactly what you mean. I am currently re-writing my first novel and get a kind of masochistic joy out of cringing, because I know it means I've improved...some credit of which must go to these WW threads...

Sammy