Interweaving Subplots: Crafting Narratives Across Multiple Storylines

The central plot shouldn’t always be your focal point, especially with the importance of a subplot. While your characters, general plot, and narrative structure are crucial, there isn’t a great script without a subplot to go along with it. Thus, let’s discuss interweaving subplots and the ability to craft narrative arcs across multiple storylines.

Still from 'The Lord of the Rings:' (2001). Photo credit: New Line Cinema

The Purpose of Subplots

A subplot is a secondary narrative strand that supports or contrasts with the main plot. While the primary storyline usually follows the protagonist’s central conflict and journey, subplots explore side characters, offer thematic counterpoints, or flesh out the story world. Subplots may intersect directly with the main plot or run parallel, only merging at key narrative junctures.

Subplots serve several vital purposes. First, they add depth to a story by providing alternative viewpoints and character experiences. This broadens the reader’s or viewer’s understanding of the world and deepens emotional investment.

Subplots can reinforce or challenge the central theme. For instance, if the main plot is about redemption, a subplot might explore a character’s fall from grace, providing contrast. Third, subplots help with pacing. They offer a change of rhythm or tone, relieving tension or building suspense while the main plot temporarily steps aside.

Types of Subplots

Subplots can be categorized in several ways, depending on their function and relation to the main plot.

Character Subplots: These focus on the development of secondary characters. For example, in Harry Potter, the story of Neville Longbottom becomes an important subplot that mirrors and supports Harry’s own journey.

Thematic Subplots: These subplots echo or question the central theme. What is the point of all this? Is the good guy really good?

Romantic Subplots: Common in many genres, these offer emotional texture. They’re self-explanatory; think of a love story.

Comedic or Tonal Relief Subplots: Lighter subplots help balance the tone, especially in darker narratives. Merry and Pippin's antics in The Lord of the Rings occasionally provide levity without detracting from the epic narrative.

Mirror Subplots: These directly reflect the main plot in miniature, sometimes with different outcomes. They provide contrast and insight into the choices made by the main characters.

Strategies for Interweaving Subplots

So, you're aiming for that 180-page script? That’s a bold goal, but let’s unpack the approach, because there are a few common pitfalls to watch out for.

First off, padding a script with unnecessary subplots is a quick way to weigh it down. I’d genuinely rather read a tight, compelling 90-page screenplay than slog through nearly double that, filled with scenes that don’t meaningfully serve the core narrative. Every page in a script needs to earn its place.

If your scripts tend to “naturally fall” in the 80 to 90-page range, that’s not necessarily a problem. It’s worth asking: Is the story lean and focused, or is it underdeveloped? Consistently short scripts could mean the narrative lacks complexity, character development, or a fully realized subtext. If that’s the case, it’s not about adding fluff; it’s about enriching the foundation.

One strategy I’ve found helpful when a story needs more scope is introducing an alternating storyline, something that runs parallel to the main arc. This isn’t just filler; it’s a complementary thread.

Maybe we get deeper insight into the antagonists’ world, or we follow a secondary group of characters with their own mission, flaws, and tensions. The trick is to ensure this subplot reinforces the themes of the main story and eventually intersects meaningfully–ideally before or during the climax. Done right, this structure adds complexity and momentum without straying off course.

The key is that these threads should converge meaningfully near the climax to deliver that big, satisfying payoff. Without that intersection, the dual narrative risks feeling fragmented or irrelevant.

The other route, of course, is to deepen and extend your main plot. If the story feels too short, maybe the middle section needs more tension, complications, or “pit stops” to reinforce your central themes.

But don’t just tack on scenes–expand the world or deepen the emotional stakes in a way that earns those extra pages. If you go this route, you’ll need to rework your ending to reflect the new developments and ensure the added material feels essential and not tacked on. It's more work, but the payoff is a more cohesive and impactful story.

On the flip side, plenty of scripts try a different tactic by piling random vignettes featuring minor characters with no real bearing on the plot. Do whatever works for you and enhance your script with subplots to the best of your ability.

Challenges of Interweaving Subplots

Crafting narratives with multiple storylines is not without its difficulties.

1. Balance and Clarity: One major challenge is giving each subplot sufficient weight without overwhelming the main plot or losing focus. Readers or viewers may become confused if too many threads are introduced without clear connections.

2. Pacing and Structure: Pacing is all about rhythm, structure, and tone. When the story ramps up, high stakes, fast-paced scenes, the tempo shifts, transitions become quicker, sentences get shorter, and the language takes on a sharp, staccato rhythm that mirrors the moment's urgency.

3. Character Development: Character development doesn’t always have to be dramatic or life-altering. For example, if one of your protagonists is a total jerk, his development can be pretty subtle. Meaning, he only starts to change once he realizes how much it sucks when people treat him the way he treats others. By the end, he still hasn’t apologized for his past behavior, but at least he’s beginning to understand what it means to be on the receiving end. It’s a small step, but it’s real.

4. Thematic Coherence: A theme should feel constant throughout the story, especially in its varying subplots. Usually, you build characters to embody different aspects of the themes you want to explore. Then, through conflict, those themes get tested, and that’s where the story starts to grow. Of course, it all depends on the specific situation.

5. Audience Investment: Don’t bore your audience! I lose interest in characters who come across as “too perfect” and lack clear, relatable flaws. The most compelling characters are those whose shortcomings feel familiar–flaws I might recognize in myself or in someone I know. It’s also important that their choices feel grounded and believable. So, aim to create well-rounded characters with realistic development arcs that evolve naturally throughout the story.

Final Thoughts

Subplots offer a welcome shift from the main narrative, allowing writers to explore different facets of a character’s personality, motivations, and relationships. When done well, subplots can be just as engaging, if not more so, than the central storyline. I often find that some of my subplots become the most exciting parts to write and, hopefully, to read.

A well-crafted subplot adds plenty to the creativity side, which enhances your script in the long run. Characters confined to a single plot arc may feel restricted, and the main storyline’s structure may limit their actions and growth.

Subplots allow the writer to explore side moments, interactions, or revelations that may not seem crucial to the plot but enrich the world and its characters. At their best, subplots can evolve organically and even shape or elevate the main narrative in unexpected and rewarding ways–something that happens when a writer balances luck with skill.