How Subplots Enrich Your Story

Here's fresh insight that will refine your subplots and reinforce your story's main physical and psychological spines.

But first let's set the stage.

In other places I explain how a story's subplot can be devised and used to reinforce the Moral Premise of the story. In short, those explanations have focused on these traits:

1. Each subplot follows a particular character in their pursuit of a specific goal.

2. Each subplot has fewer dramatic beats than the story's physical spine.

3. The psychological arc of every character in every subplot lies someone along the arc between the opposing values anchored by the Moral Premise Statement.

For example, let's say we have a story titled HOT WATER. Our story's main plot (or physical spine) centers on a protagonist—an elderly but persistent widow—who battles a secretive landlord who refuses to provide more than 65/F of heat to the hot water heating system during the winter months.  The widow's goal of the main plot is to sue the landlord to reveal how much profit he's making by keeping the temperature at 65/F, and thus force him raise the temperature.

But the landlord's position is that his financial records are private, and he further argues the tenant agreement specifically states that the maximum temperature that he needs to provide tenants is 65/F, not a degree more.

Let's say the Moral Premise Statement for our story is:

Secrecy leads to strife and sickness; but

Transparency leads to satisfaction and health.

Now, that sounds pretty simple and true, if not lame and not always true. But until this gets on the Black List, let's go with the flow.

MAIN PLOT - Fulfilling our three criteria above:

1. Character/Goal: The main plot follows the widow in her goal to get some heat (or so it appears)

2. Beats: The main plot in our full-length screenplay has 22 beats. It's a bit complex, really.

3. Arc: The protagonist (the widow) arcs from embracing secrecy herself to being more transparent. How? Well, we'll reveal that in Act 3. I love reversals.

But we're here to talk about SUBPLOTS. 

A 4th aspect of successful subplots is this: A subplot should argue or test a different aspect, or world-view of how the moral premise is true or false.

GREED vs. GENEROSITY

In the past I've explained how each character should embrace either the virtue or vice of the moral premise from a different perspective. The example I've often used is of Greed vs. Generosity...and how each different main character should either arc or anchor around those values with regard to money, or time, or possessions, or compliments, etc. Thus, all of the characters end up dealing with that same conflict of values: Greens vs. Generosity...and that makes the movie about one thing and yet with depth or dimensional—as the positive and negative sides of the moral premise are examined and tested.

But the exploration of both sides of the moral premise (i.e. the theme) should also apply to the plots and subplots. We need to explore the world-views of a moral premise, not just by characterization, but also by acton—the plots. So...

4. The world-view argued in the main plot of HOT WATER, is to argue the moral premise from the world-view of the law, the courts, and the legality of the widow's goal. At first look it appears to frame the story as a weak old lady vs. a rich mean landlord and the law will come to her rescue.  

Now, about the subplots.

SUBPLOT 1 - is about the widow's son who has the goal of getting his mom to use the expensive space heater he bought her. Every time he comes to visit she's either not using it, or he can't find it. And she won't tell him why or where.  She's keeping a secret.

1. Character/Goals: Subplot 1 follows the widow's son in his goal to get her to use the space heater. And if she doesn't he's going to tell the landlord that she's been stubborn. The son understands the tenant agreement and he knows that space heaters are encouraged for supplemental heat, provided they have safety interlocks, which the one he bought has.
2. Beats.  Seven (7).
3. Arc. But then mom tells her son why she won't use it. She reminds him that his father died in cabin fire due to a space heater that caught during a hunting trip. When the son remembers this story, he has a change of heart and he transforms from transparency to  secrecy. We won't tell the landlord why.
4. World-view. From the perspective of an old emotional wound, the subplot surrounds a life and death story, not of freezing to death at 65/F but the danger of using the space heater and burning the building down. 

SUBPLOT 2 - is about the tenant association of the building. They object to her lawsuit because if she wins and the landlord raises the temperature, he will undoubtedly also raise the rent because the rental agreement has a utilities escalation clause that has been invoked nearly every year. When oil prices for the boiler increase, so does their rent, and they never seem to go down.

1. Character/Goals: Subplot 2 follows the Tenant Association and their goal to get her to drop the suit, with their ultimate goal to not increase their monthly rent.
2. Beats: Subplot 2 had 9 beats as a lot of tenants let their voices be heard.
3. Arc. They side with the landlord and maintain that the landlord's books are none of the widow's business, and that he has otherwise kept the property up and quickly sees that electrical and plumbing problems are fixed when they occur. Besides they won't want to be on his bad side and have service fall decline.
4. World-View: This Subplot argues from a world-view of financial health of the other tenants.

SUBPLOT 3 - is about a vocal social warrior who lives on the first floor in Apartment 1B, and her goal to get our widow to just shut up, and stop inviting in reporters and lawyers. The foot traffic is bad enough as she's the one that has to answer the doorbell when the building manager isn't around. But what really irks her is the negative publicity that gets out on Twitter about the building she lives in and how the lack of heat is killing residents and sending them to the hospital.  

1. Character/Goals: Subplot 3 follows social warrior whose goal is to stop her Twitter and Facebook followers from harassing her about the tyrannical landlord.
2. Beats: Subplot 3 has 5 beats.
3. Arc. Our social warrior has an arc that is quite dramatic, when she confronts the widow and defends the landlord, the widow reveals that the landlord's son, who is the young and dashing building manager, is two-timing the social warrior with the blonde in 5C. Did she know that? She did not, and the social warrior quickly changes sides and demands full transparency of her now ex-lover, and his father, the landlord.
4. World-View: This subplot explores the moral premise from the world-view of social order and sexual morality, and can be structured as a reversal.

So, to recap, subplots should do the following and thus enrich your story:

1. Character/Goals: Each subplot follows a particular character in their pursuit of a specific goal that is related to the main plot and the moral premise.
2. Beats: Each subplot has fewer dramatic beats than the story's physical spine, thus keeping the story about the main plot and not overshadowing it or the protagonist's screen time and diluting the audience's investment in her.
3. Arc. The psychological arc of the character in pursuit of the subplot's goal lies along the arc described by the conflict of values in the Moral Premise Statement, thus keeping the story elements about one thing.
4. World-View: The subplot explores the moral premise and the story's spine from different world-views, thus giving the story depth and perspective.

FINAL TIPS:

A. The subplots, when examined together, should arc in different directions

B. The subplots should all start either in Act 1 or the first half of Act 2. Most should resolve before Final Incident in Act 3 (which is 12.5% before the final conflict.) But at least one should wait until AFTER the final conflict and get resolved (or left hanging) in the Dénouement—the last two pages.

C. The protagonist may have 4 to 6 subplots and sub goals. Yet, even in a redeeming ending film, the protagonist should NOT be successful in every subplot. The reality is this: Audiences connect with characters that are like them—imperfect.

D. Secondary characters, like an ally or nemesis and the antagonist will have 1 to 2 subplots with 5 to 9 beats

E. Minor characters will only have 1 subplot and from 3-5 beats.

HOT WATER REVERSAL

Now imagine what happens to our subplot resolutions when, just as an outside settlement is about to be reached in which our widow will not only get the heat turned up, but will also be paid tens of thousands of dollars in emotional distress, it's revealed that the elderly widow has a history of suing rich people whom she can play by pretending to be a poor widow. In fact, she is wanted by the FBI for being a secretive con artist worth millions. That hot water bottle she keeps close to her chest? It's filled with gold dust.