Question of the Month
copyright 1998 by Alicia Rasley
New questions below! Scroll down for "What's a B-plot?"
Ask me anything.... about writing, that is. It's all I know.
uestion:
What do they mean by the A-Plot? Barbara
nswer:
A-Plot is a cinema term referring to the plotline that really drives the story. This doesn't mean it's the most important, but rather the one that forces most of the action. Quite often that's the external plot, which brings the protagonist into the story and isn't resolved until the climactic scene. (For more about external vs. internal plot, see my article Structuring the Story.)
The A-Plot is also the plot the reader uses to gauge where she is in the book– that is, if she's thinking, "This must be pretty early, because the investigator has just been brought in," and later, "Well, she's found that final clue, so the end is near," the mystery plot is the A-Plot. It's sort of the timekeeper plot– "story time" begins when this plot begins, and ends when it's resolved.
Most books also have another major plot, the B-Plot, which is too long and complex and independent to be a subplot. That might be a romance or the internal journey towards self-acceptance or whatever complicates and deepens the protagonist's experience of the A-Plot.
I know this sounds like a no-brainer– the external, real-time, chronological plot is usually the A-Plot. But not always!
Sometimes the external plot is just a handy vehicle to get the protagonist moving on some other journey. For example, a "family drama" might track a coach's attempt to get cheerleading recognized as an official sport so that the girls don't have to hold bake sales to pay for their uniforms and transportation to games. That's the external plot. But the purpose of this rather minor plot is to force her to confront her resentment towards her brother, who got all the breaks in the family and at school because he was a boy (interactional plot). The main narrative drive is towards family reconciliation when she realizes that he was as much the victim of gender roles as she.
Whatever plot becomes your A-Plot, you'll need full development and integration of all the plots– a braid, not a railroad track. A story is more than its main plot!
Good luck! Alicia
So what's a B-plot then? Barb
Barb, the B-plot is the other major plot in the story. Actually, it often starts before the A-plot and causes the A-plot to happen. It's quite often the catalyst that leads to the change that is the forward motion of the A-plot. It can do this by:
launching the A-plot
Okay, okay, I know. We need examples. Well, let's say you're writing a romance. The A-plot then is the progression of these two people from strangers to lovers. This is the absolute essential plot; it's what makes this the story it is. But... leaving these two people alone to develop a relationship in real-time and normal circumstances is going to be boring. (Trust me, I've tried to write "realistic" one-plot stories, and they take way too long to get anywhere. Think of chronicling 6 months of dating, for instance.)
So once you have some ideas of your characters, and what their relationship might be like, bring on the B-plot to make that happen in a more concise, exciting way. You see, in real life, we change at glacial speed. I really am going to get organized one of these days, I tell myself, and I have the shelf of "organize your life" books to prove my good intentions. But "one of these days" has become "one of these years"-- and will become "one of these millenia" if something doesn't happen to force me to get organized-- say a parent's illness, or an imminent book deadline.
A catalyst speeds up the change needed to propel the A-plot. Here's an example from one of my books, Poetic Justice. John and Jessica are the lovers-to-be. They are fairly well-matched-- both intelligent, independent lovers of rare books. They need to meet and find enough in common to fall in love, despite the difference in their stations in life (she's an aristocratic heiress, he's an ambitious middle-class art/book dealer). The A-plot is their progression towards overcoming the class obstacle and her uncle's objections, not to mention the battleship-sized chip on John's shoulder. (This takes place in 1818, when class differences really mattered.)
Problem is, they travel in such different circles, they would, in ordinary circumstances, never meet. Bring on the B-plot (and what a plot it is, if I must say so myself). John hears tell of a lost Shakespeare manuscript, the only play still extant written (at least partly) in his own hand. (This really exists-- it's in the British Museum now.) Finding it would be the frosting on his career, one of the greatest coups in the history of bookdealing. All he knows is that a French collector had it when he escaped from the French Revolution. He tracks this long-dead collector and finds that only his granddaughter yet lives, and is set to inherit a vault full of presumed treasures. The granddaughter, natch, is Jessica. But she's only going to inherit the vault if she marries a man approved by her dictatorial uncle... who is not likely to approve of the upstart John (romantic conflict).
So the B-plot of John's quest for the manuscript brings him into contact with Jessica, the (he hopes) soon-to-be owner. He doesn't want to show all his cards, so he doesn't let her know he's got an ulterior motive for agreeing to serve as her advisor on the treasure vault's contents. His deception here, which makes perfect sense in furthering the B-plot (if she knows what he's after, she might make sure he doesn't get it), causes conflict in the A-plot (when she finds out, she knows she can't trust him).
Conflict is the fuel that powers the story. But the conflict of two lovers-to-be, absent some other plot, might be something dull like "I'm jealous that you had a boyfriend before me" or "You always forget to put the top back on the toothpaste." A B-plot quite simply gives them the opportunity to develop more interesting conflict, such as "we are rivals for the same treasure," or "you're so ruthless I know I can't trust you with my treasure," or "how can I trust someone who is trying to steal my treasure?" But it also keeps them together when the conflict arises (even if she can't trust him, she needs him to foil the villain who wants to burn the manuscript once it surfaces; John needs her for access to the vault). They become reluctant allies in the B-plot, which of course gives them plenty of time together in order to develop the romance A-plot.
Now what about events? Well, the B-plot provides the events that keep bringing them together long enough to fall in love and overcome the obstacles to marriage. Remember, two people in conflict-- the untrusting Jessica and the deceptive John-- aren't likely to willingly choose to spend much time together... unless they must-- in furtherance of some other purpose. And the events are likely to be more entertaining if they involve something more purposeful than "going on a date". So the B-plot provides them things to accomplish, like breaking into a library to find a clue, and meeting with the unwitting villain to scope him out, and even getting engaged so as to antagonize her uncle (it makes sense in context... I think). Each of these events forces them to work together, thereby increasing their trust and respect and desire for each other.
Finally, the B-plot can force growth, the growth needed for these two lovers-to-be to earn the love waiting for them at the end. (After all, the romance A-plot really is about the progression towards love, which means they have to grow in order to achieve it.) John needs to overcome his sense of inferiority that comes from his lowly birth, and he can do this by proving himself the world's greatest bookdealer. Jessica needs to find a openminded man and prove herself his equal, because she can't happily love a man who thinks of her as a silly woman. Both of those are facilitated by the B-plot.
But more importantly, the B-plot forces a test on them. They are both so focused on achievement and competition that the question naturally arises-- can they ever value love as highly as they value rare books and winning? When Jessica risks her inheritance for John, and John allows the (apparent) destruction of the manuscript to save Jessica, they prove that their love is stronger than their ambition. They've grown through the course of the plot, and now have their priorities straight.
Let's flip the story, however, and think of the A-plot as the mystery/thriller/treasure-hunt plot. How would it be different? Not so much, perhaps, in the initial events. But if the A-plot is the finding of the treasure, then the romance doesn't necessarily conclude happily. John might exploit Jessica's feelings for him not just at the beginning, but all the way through, because the plot isn't aimed at his growth towards love, but rather his solution of the mystery/achievement of the treasure goal. In fact, Jessica could turn out to be his adversary, a spy in league with the villain, so that any love he begins to feel for her is a conflict in the A-plot because it diminishes his desire for the treasure and weakens his resolve. The lesson he would learn then is not, "Love is worth more than ambition," but rather "Love is a danger and a cheat."
You might see the B-plot as the workhorse plot, the one that does most of the pulling and pushing of conflict and event. It is essential, in that the story would probably be two-dimensional without it. It's more than a subplot because it is book-long and developed mostly on-stage. But it is subservient to the A-plot, and need not resolve in a "satisfactory" manner. If you want to leave a few threads untied (to make room for a sequel, for example), the B-plot is the place to do it.
Good luck on plotting!
Alicia
So what's a subplot then? Barb
Barb, a subplot is a storyline that starts, develops, and resolves within the other plots. It usually starts sometime after the opening of the two major plots, and resolves before the climax. It supports one or both of the major plots, perhaps by
Looking at my example above, of John and Jessica, I see a subplot in Jessica's relationship with her tyrannical Uncle Parham. It is essential to the story (everything in the story should be essential somehow) because his opposition to her marrying any man she might want to marry keeps her from 1) outright inheriting the vault with the treasure, and 2) marrying John as soon as she gets a hankering for him (before she has earned love, remember). But it arises in the plot after the B-plot launches John's pursuit of Jessica, and resolves before Jessica gets either her treasure or her man.
It's easy to see that Uncle causes conflict for Jessica, and for John too (if Uncle would just approve some man, any man, Jessica would marry, the vault would be transferred, and John could get the manuscript, even if he has to steal it). But how does he cause events? Well, if he thought John were anything but an advisor, he would nix the budding relationship. So every meeting he has with John, especially if Jessica is around, is no longer just an encounter: it's fraught with the danger that he might figure out what J&J are doing. His position as her trustee also provides event opportunities, as the villain must try to discredit John hoping to win Uncle's approval, and thus puts John into difficult situations in order to cause him to look bad.
Uncle's intransigence also teaches John some important skills and lessons. One is how to keep his temper when his honor is being impugned (since he is not, in Uncle's eyes, a gentleman, John can be insulted freely). Another is, paradoxically, when to defend his honor-- when Uncle goes too far (goaded by villain), and casts doubt on John's paternity. (Uncle is right, but it's still way too insulting for John to abide.) This makes him realize that there are things more important than the treasure, such as his mother's good name. Jessica, witnessing these events, comes to understand that John's struggle with the rigid class system is akin to her struggle with rampant gender discrimination, and this brings them closer.
Finally, the subplot forces to the surface a hidden (not very well!) internal conflict of John's. He has never admitted that he knows the truth about his birth-- that the man who raised him is not his biological father. Uncle's careless aspersions about the rumor "everyone knows" brings that underground issue to the surface, where it can no longer be ignored. (As long as it's underground, it can cause all sorts of trouble-- that chip on his shoulder, remember-- but can't be clearly identified or resolved.) His later private confession of the truth to Jessica shows that he has come to trust her with the most volatile issue in his life-- and that acknowledgment allows him to resolve yet another subplot, his rocky relationship with his "best friend", who is really his biological father's legitimate son.
Remember that subplots are usually a complete, if mini, storyline; that is, they have a beginning, middle, and end, though much of this will occur offstage. The resolution of the subplot in some way should help propel the major plots to the climactic events at the end of the book. In my J&J example, the subplot wraps up when Uncle realizes that John, despite his lowly birth, is the only man who can handle his independent niece without breaking her spirit. He approves of their marriage, which means that she will indeed inherit the vault, which propels the villain to make a last-ditch attempt to prevent this, which forces John to choose between his treasure and his love.
Subplots are important because they support the major plots. They shouldn't just be parallel without plot connection (such as if Jessica was having problems with her aunt, who plays no real role in the plot), but they should be subsidiary. Much of the development of this plot can take place offstage, with only the major-plot-affecting events being narrated. (In my example, the history of the relationship with Uncle is handled in a paragraph of backstory, rather than developing in the story.) Most important is to keep them tied to the story through showing how the development of the subplot furthers the development of the major plots.
Now can you pass the ibuprofen? Plotting gives me a headache. :)
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