i've been mulling this one over for quite some time. like, is subplot a necessity? does subplot really add value? does subplot subtract from the plot?
i admit, some books i read i skip right over subplot because i'm more interested in the heroine and hero. i don't want a long delay for seeing what happens next with the two characters i care about the most.
now, i think that if the subcharacters impact the main characters directly, then yes, they are valuable. but, if it's just some unrelated people that have little to do with the h & h - the substory is simply running parallel to the main one - then chances are, i don't give a flip.
so, with the story i'm working on i had to think this through because i'm not a big subplot person - because i'm not a big subplot reader. this time i made myself add in this sub-bitch who is going to stir up some drama, or rather, conflict. but sub-bitch directly impacts my h & h and she'll go on a journey/transformation of her own.
i think it's good to do something out of your comfort zone in regard to writing. i realized i just needed to write subcharacters that the reader will care about almost as much as they will my h & h. and although it's hard to care about a sub-bitch, i think by the end the reader will (hopefully) feel she added value rather than took away from the time it took to read about her.
thoughts on subplots, subcharacters? thumbs up, thumbs down? like 'em, hate 'em? take 'em or leave 'em? must have, who cares?
2 comments:
I have two current ms I'm working on alternately. One has a subplot, one doesn't. Sometimes it's a great way to introduce a character for another story.
I agree with you Christie, if the characters and their conflict isn't as interesting as the hero/heroine, you're wasting the reader's time.
I'm usually a fan of subplots because that means there's going to be a sequel which means I get to read about the characters I love again, only they'll be married with 2.5 kids but still crazy in love.
I tend to have too many characters in my writing. It's like a freakin' circus where the clowns all cram into one car. I'm a fly by the seat of my pants writer. I don't plot or know how it's going to end until I get there. Sometimes the extras help me learn more about my h & H and then they end up edited out...poor things.
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