Subplots: The Secret Sauce That Keeps the Story Simmering

Or, How to Survive the Soggy Middle Without Throwing Your Laptop Across the Room

Photo by hailegebrael berhanu on Unsplash

You know that part of your novel where everything feels like wet cardboard? The big inciting incident is behind you, the climax is miles ahead, and your main character is trudging through act two like they’re knee-deep in narrative molasses.

Welcome to the soggy middle, where novels go to die.

Luckily, there’s a trick to keep things spicy: subplots.

A subplot is that extra thread running alongside your main story, sometimes funny, sometimes romantic, sometimes heartbreaking, but always doing one of three things:

1. Revealing character,

2. Advancing the main plot, or

3. Expanding the world so it feels alive.

Think of subplots as seasoning. Too little, and your story’s bland. Too much, and your reader can’t taste the main dish anymore.

Why You Need Them

Your main plot is a marathon. It builds slowly, and it’s easy for readers to lose steam waiting for the next big thing to explode. Subplots are your water breaks, mini-stories that let readers breathe while still keeping them invested.

They also make your world feel real. Every side character is the hero of their own story, even if your book isn’t about them. When they fall in love, chase a side quest, or try to hide their gambling problem, your story gains texture and depth.

Bonus: Subplots are fantastic for sneaky foreshadowing. Want to introduce the artifact that will save the galaxy later? Show it first in someone’s side mission. Readers won’t suspect a thing. (Looking at you, Tom Clancy and your suspiciously important bonsai tree.)

The Soggy-Middle Rescue Mission

Subplots shine brightest in the dreaded middle act.
When your main plot is busy “building tension,” a subplot can:

• Give your readers a quick win (or loss).

• Let another character take center stage.

• Add emotional variety, like a romantic spark, a rivalry, or even comic relief.

It’s why so many big series rely on them. Without the side stories, The Wheel of Time would be “Rand hikes again.” Without Hermione and Ron’s budding romance, Harry Potter would’ve felt like a homework montage with pyrotechnics.

The Golden Rules

1. Don’t let the subplot steal the show.
   Your reader came for the main plot. If the love story or political intrigue is more compelling than the central conflict, you’ve got a balance problem.

2. Keep it connected.
   Even if the subplot feels separate, it should eventually loop back, emotionally, thematically, or literally, into the main story. The best subplots collide with the climax like a surprise car crash you secretly planned.

3. Limit the number.
   3–5 subplots max, depending on your genre and your reader’s caffeine tolerance. Any more, and your audience will need a spreadsheet. (Looking at you, George R.R. Martin.)

A Touch of Romance Never Hurts

Romance is the universal subplot, it adds warmth, stakes, and heart. But it doesn’t have to mean candlelight and longing gazes. Sometimes it’s about loyalty, trust, or reconnection. The chemistry between Han and Leia, the friendship between Frodo and Sam, or even the rivalry between Holmes and Moriarty, they all feel romantic in their own way.

The point isn’t to derail your main story, it’s to remind readers that your characters are human (or whatever species you’re writing about).

Bring It All Home

The closer your subplots resolve to the main climax, the more satisfying your story will feel. Every open thread carries emotional weight, and when they all tighten together near the end, readers get that sense of “Ah, this is what it was all for.”

If a subplot wraps up early, find a way for its consequences to echo later. Don’t just close the door, let the draft from that door blow through the finale.

Try This:

Take your work-in-progress and ask:

• Who else in this story wants something, and how can it tangle with my hero’s journey?

• What’s missing emotionally in the middle of my book? Humor? Connection? Stakes?

• Is there a thread I can tighten so that, when it snaps, it shakes the main plot too?

Subplots aren’t distractions, they’re scaffolding. They hold your story up when it threatens to collapse under its own weight.

So, the next time you hit that muddy middle, throw in a subplot.
Make someone fall in love, start a side hustle, or lose a chicken.
(Just don’t let the chicken subplot take over the book.)

Because nothing keeps readers turning pages like a little meanwhile, back at the tavern…

If you’ve ever had a side character grab the wheel and take off with your story, that’s the start of a subplot in disguise. For that kind of delightful chaos, see my earlier post When Your Side Character Grabs the Wheel (and Drives Off With the Plot)