A fantastic subplot — both riveting and taking place in an exotic locale — spans from the beginning of the Middle to nearly the Crisis toward the end of the Middle. Based on the proposed length of the book, she has nearly 7,000 words left to write to reach the beginning of the End.
The writer begins to integrate a minor subplot that has wandered from draft to draft without a firm place in the historical novel the writer envisions and without any real purpose. Still, the writer clutches fast and hopes this is the right place for the minor subplot.
As she writes, all the energy she’s created through the fantastic subplot fades and the impact of that subplot is diminished. Yes, the minor subplot foreshadows what occurs at the Crisis. Yet, to pull the story to the Crisis with the minor subplot becomes an impossibility and deflates all the work she’s already written.
In our plot consultation, I jump to the Climax and press the writer for her thoughts and ideas about protagonist’s ultimate transformation in the scene she envisions at the crowning glory of her story.
Before long, the exact right place for the minor subplot reveals itself and, for the first time, the writer understands the significance of the subplot to the primary plot and its influence on the character emotional development transformation.
To begin the Middle with the minor subplot allows the writer the scenes to prepare the reader and build the energy to the fantastic subplot and also to foreshadow and inform the Crisis to come.
The writer’s delight that this minor subplot has suddenly found its place in her story is evident even over the airways all the way from Shanghai. It’s almost as if the minor subplot pulls off the mask it’s been hiding behind and reveals its true nature and ultimate power to the overall story.
“I can’t believe it takes understanding the end of the story to truly understand what comes before,” she exclaims.
The End defines the Beginning and the subplots in the Middle and just about every other important aspect of any great novel, memoir, screenplay.
Plot your story step-by-step with the help of The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories.
More Plot Tips:
1) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master.
2) Watch the Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay?on YouTube. Scroll down on the left of this post for a directory of all the steps to the series. 27-step tutorial on YouTube.
3) Watch the Monday Morning Plot Book Group Serieson YouTube.
Leave a Reply