Thoughts on Subplots

If I set out to write a particular screenplay, the implication is one story, 3 acts. The main action of the story is simply known as the plot - what happens and to whom. I like to think there's another story that runs just underneath the main story, which is my theme - every great story is really about WHY it happened, that's they key to what makes them "work" as well they do. So what happens, to whom and why it happens = plot, theme and character, the basic building blocks of story, and suddenly I find myself writing not one but two stories which must overlay each other perfectly.

But the plot thickens (sorry) because now I have to add the subplots. Why not just write a straight story about one thing and be done with it? Because if I want it to be good - even if I only care if it's good enough to get sold - every well told feature script has subplots, at least 2. Pesky subplots. Sure, I could write a story with no subplots, but I guarantee it won't be a GREAT story or one that will sell or further my career in any appreciable way. Every great film explores one main/core theme from a variety of viewpoints, thereby giving them the qualities of depth, range and scope. Thematically, they've covered every applicable angle of their story. In order to compete at the professional level, I need to do that with my stories.

Subplots do most of the heavy lifting in this exploration of theme. To accomplish this, those 2 subplots have to be as structurally sound as the main plot, so they each must have the applicable 3 acts - beginning, middle, end (though some of these acts don't necessarily need to happen on screen). Further, if they are to be a unified part of the story, all subplots must relate to and inform the main plot's theme. If they don't reflect the theme in some meaningful way, they will seem disjointed, out of place or wholly unnecessary. So if I aspire to write great scripts - again, even if I only aspire to write so/so scripts that simply sell - subplots are necessary. If anyone's keeping count, I now have to write 5 stories, not just one. I don't even want to THINK about re-writes at this point!

So to maximize my story's potential I start with theme in creating my main plot, or vice versa - letting the plot dictate the theme. Whichever comes first is irrelevant, they're now in synch, they inform each other. The next step is to figure out exactly what else I want to say about the theme or, cheesy as it may sound, what else my story "tells" me to say about the theme. Now I have my subplots. Now I separately plot out the 3 acts of each subplot, as well as any necessary plot points. Once that's done I now have my 5 separate stories, all tangents off the same theme, interconnected, informing each other and strengthening the main story as a whole.

The nice thing about breaking my plot and subplots down like this is that I get a good view of them separately and can now interweave them at will in a way that makes logical, progressive story sense. And once I've started writing the actual screenplay I know I won't get "lost" in a maze of half-baked ideas and dead ends. It makes me very clear in what I'm writing, and it makes my stories multidimensional instead of shallow and one note. Hell, one day I may even write a truly GREAT screenplay - or at least one that sells.