When you are a “pantser” like I am (who doesn’t outline the story before writing) it is easy to go off on a tangent and lose sight of your goal. Novel length manuscripts often have many sub-plots to help keep the action moving.
It’s sometimes too easy to get so caught up in a subplot that you go completely off track and lose sight of your story. Learn to relate any subplots back to the main theme. For instance if you are writing a love story (not necessarily romance genre) then everything that happens has an effect on the relationship.
Let’s say Joe and Mandy meet, he courts her and they marry and raise a family. There probably isn’t a whole lot to keep readers turning pages without all the parts of life that affect our characters. I heard once that in order to make a story interesting, just when everything is going smoothly, throw in a glitch for the main characters to confront. So along the way Joe loses his well-paying job, he goes out into the job market in search of something else and in the recession is frustrated with his efforts. He becomes distressed.
We can write a terrific story about this man who now has to cope with unpaid bills and shattered dreams. We can describe the devastation the economy has on the location. Unless we tie this story line back to the relationship though, we have lost focus of our original story. How does Joe’s loss of income affect their marriage plans? Do they argue? What do they each have to give up to make things work? Make sure the subplot gets threaded into the main story instead of becoming its own story.
You can toss several subplots into the story because, just like real life, we often have to deal with more than one situation at a time. Maybe another subplot is the death of Mandy’s grandmother. Aside from the emotions of losing a loved one, how does Grandma’s demise tie into what happens to Joe and Mandy. Maybe Granny had money and she left a huge inheritance to Mandy… Are there conditions that will alter the couple’s plans? Maybe Joe, still reeling from his job loss, will resent Mandy’s fortune? Or maybe he’ll be accused of going after her for her money?
Imagine that your story is a braid, you must keep weaving the strands of hair together. Always bring the subplots into the main plot and show the effect the subplots have on the main story. Keep moving that main story on as well. If Mandy and Joe set the date for their wedding, that date is coming even while he deals with his unemployment and even while Mandy learns how big an inheritance she has from her beloved grandmother.
Your side stories should never become bigger than the main theme though, and they should be kept neat and tidy. Too many subplots/side stories going on at once can get messy and confusing. In the end, your main story should still be clear so keep your eye on the anticipated story ending and keep working towards it. Tell your story in stages or scenes and each scene should serve a purpose or another step toward the ultimate goal/end. Make sure that your characters and setting remains consistent or naturally progressive and keep them real.
Writing exercise: Pick a recent book you’ve read and without opening it again, write a few sentences about one to three of your favorite scenes. Try to remember as many details as you can and why you liked the scene(s).
Writing prompt: Make a list of (up to five) of your earliest memories and list one thing you most associate with each memory.
