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Juggling Subplots: 3 Options

You may have figured out why I talked about the McGuffin, Mystery and Romance subplots. (Those aren’t the only possibilities). One, they are indeed awesome subplots. Two, in my project October Knight, I have all three. 

My hero, Brandon Kickabutt, is trying to win the love of the Homecoming Queen, which is difficult since he’s a goblin and she’s a monster-hunter. He’s also trying to solve the mystery of who killed his father and what happened to his mother. Ultimately, however, the story is a fantasy, which means it’s a McGuffin tale at heart. His main quest, though he doesn’t know it at the beginning of the book, is to master the power of the Gate Key and become the October Knight.

How do you communicate which plot is the main one and which are the subplots? Here are options:

1. Order of introduction
2. Emphasis
3. Tone

1. Order of Introduction

The simplest method to show the importance of a plot plotline is the order of introduction.

Chapter One: The detective arrives to examine the murder scene.

Chapter Two: When she meets the main suspect, she’s disturbed to find him incredibly sexy.

Chapter Three: She finds out that he’s searching for a valuable gem known as the Watermelon Tourmaline, the largest tourmaline in the world that’s green on either end and pink in the middle. Unfortunately, a lot of other unsavory dudes are looking for the Watermelon Tourmaline too.

That’s a classic way to introduce main plot (Mystery), subplot (Romance) and another subplot (McGuffin). This would be a Mystery or Thriller with a romantic subplot.

2. Emphasis

However, order doesn’t have to dictate importance. Emphasis is even more critical. You could have exactly the same order, in  Romance with a Suspense subplot. (Yes, there is a difference between a Mystery with a romance subplot and a Romance with a Mystery subplot.) For instance, suppose the heroine is at a lunch with her BFF. The BFF is telling her she needs to get over her ex and start dating again, and the heroine says she has no time. A call comes in; a body has been found. “See?” she tells her best friend. “The only men I meet are murder suspects.”

This set up could be just a few lines, and then the heroine is off to the investigation; but the key is that the author has clued in the reader that a primary concern of the novel will be with the heroine opening herself up to love again after a failed relationship. When she meets a hot guy who is a murder suspect, the reader will chortle.

A Romance will likely spend a lot more story space remarking on the sexual attractiveness, and feelings, of the murder suspect/romance than a Mystery. In a Mystery, a few lines could suffice; a Romance will dwell much longer on his dark, arrogant chiseled face, piercing blue eyes and incredible abs.

3. Tone

Another difference is tone. This is not just about emphasis but about the Voice of the novel itself. It’s the hardest of the three options to pin down, but incredibly important.

In my present project, I think I have a grip on Order and Emphasis, but I’m struggling with Tone. I want to keep this book on the young side of Young Adult, and not make it too dark. I want it to be breezy and humorous.

Yet, in my Seed Scenes, I keep finding myself dragging in darker themes and situations. Not outside the realm of Young Adult, which these days can be pretty dark, but in a different direction than I thought I wanted to go.

I have to choose. Should I go with the impulse, or should I stick to my original vision? I might need to try the same scene in two or three different Voices.

NaNoWriMo Tip #10: 3 Subplots To Strengthen Your Novel

 

These are my personal tips for NaNoWriMo. You know the drill. Take only what works.
Now you should have the main story arc traced out for your novel, but you may find that it’s thin in places. Perhaps it needs flushing out with a subplot.
There are three subplots that can’t go wrong. They work as plots too… In fact, they work so well as plots, that they define whole genres. Take Romance – a whole genre. Now, if you are writing a Romance novel, then Romance is your Main Plot, and you can’t use it as the subplot. Wait—I take that back. Of course you could—you could introduce a second couple, who also have a love story. Sometimes the second couple, the subplot, will be used as a foil for the main couple, and therefore won’t have a HEA (Happily Ever After.) Or they could have their own HEA. It’s up to you.

McGuffin

One McGuffin To Rule Them All. (Not to be confused with the Segulah Ring.)
Hitchcock coined the term “McGuffin.” It refers to the tangible object or visible goal that everyone is after or trying to achieve. Steal the secret plans. Discover the cure. Win the race. Blow up the Death Star. Use the One Ring to Rule them all and in the darkness bind them. You get the idea.
The key is that the McGuffin has to be a tangible, visible object or achievement. It’s not an inner goal, or a psychological achievement. It’s concrete. What the McGuffin means to the hero may change throughout the course of the story. He may begin by wanting it and end by destroying it, or vice versa. But either way, you’ll know if he has it or does it.
If your main plot has only psychological goals – and I include “falling in love” or “finding the murderer” in this – then consider adding a McGuffin plot.

Mystery

It’s hard to think of any novel that wouldn’t benefit from some suspense. If you are writing a thriller or a murder mystery, you already know this: it’s your main plot. But even if you are writing a fantasy (McGuffin) plot or a contemporary love story (Romance) plot, throwing in suspense or even a murder mystery, can add a layer of intrigue and page-turning fun.
If your genre is not mystery, you have to make sure that you don’t let the murder mystery plot overshadow your main story. It also can’t be too different in tone from your main story. If the main plot involves a gentle romance between a cat loving woman and a handsome veterinarian who is secretly a billionaire, you could include a minor mystery about who killed his rich uncle (maybe he himself is under suspicion), but it wouldn’t be wise to include gory scenes of the murder.

Romance

Have you ever noticed that when Hollywood adapts a novel, they often add a romantic subplot to a book that had none? Sometimes this stretches credulity, as when they throw a female character in with an all male crew on a pirate ship. In fact, this predates Hollywood. Gilbert and Sullivan made fun of this in their operetta, H.M.S. Pinafore, when they had “the Admiral of the Sea, the Ruler of the Queen’s Navy,” turn up with dozens of women in tow, who explained, “And we are his cousins, whom he reckons by the dozens, his cousins and his sisters and his aunts!”
Ridiculous as this sometime is, there’s a good reason for it. Any story that lacks a romance (unless it’s for children), can be improved by adding one. Almost any story. Ok, fine, I’m sure you can think of exceptions, but really, trust me on this, most stories benefit.
This doesn’t mean the romance subplot has to take over the book. Unless Romance is your genre, it shouldn’t be the main focus. But one of the best ways to signal to a reader that the hero has grown and changed during the story—and that should be the whole point of the main plot—is to show how he (or she) is now finally worthy of wooing and winning the love interest.
A word of caution. Sometimes, you might fly in a manic frenzy and throw all three of these powerful plot techniques into the same book. Can you get away with that?
Sure…as long as you keep in mind which is your main attraction. Be true to your genre and your vision for the book.