The lead is teaching a neighbor's child to swim.Under: a plot that ends at water. Ties in: the child, not the lead, makes the swim.
The lead has just been trusted with the keys.Under: a temptation to misuse a position. Ties in: the main plot needs one door opened after hours.
The lead has been volunteered to bake for the school sale.Under: a rescue or a chase. Ties in: the cake has to be carried through the whole last scene.
A baker is trying to win back one customer who went to the new shop.Under: a ruler or a boss losing support. Ties in: the baker asks what was wrong, and listens.
A boy cannot make himself climb the rope in gym class.Under: a lead facing a bigger climb. Ties in: he reaches the top on the last day, and the lead hears of it.
A boy keeps a list of every promise his father breaks, and then of one he keeps.Under: a story about trust between adults. Ties in: the list is found when trust is asked for.
A chess game by mail has run between two towns for twelve years.Under: a long rivalry. Ties in: one side resigns kindly, and the lead reads the card.
A dog waits at the bus stop each afternoon for someone who has moved away.Under: a lead who cannot let go. Ties in: the dog goes home with a new child and looks back once.
A girl is growing a sunflower for a contest and measures it daily.Under: a lead fixed on a number. Ties in: she cuts it for a friend the day before judging.
A grandmother learns to drive at seventy.Under: a lead afraid to start over. Ties in: her test is on the morning of the lead's own.
A neighbor is rebuilding, stone by stone, a wall he knocked down as a boy.Under: a lead with an old wrong to right. Ties in: he sets the last stone while the lead looks on.
A quilt is passed along a street, and each house adds a square.Under: strangers becoming a team. Ties in: the last square is given to the newcomer to sew.
A stray cat takes many chapters to decide which house on the street it lives in.Under: a lead choosing between two homes. Ties in: the cat chooses the day before the lead must.
A teacher is learning her students' language, badly and bravely.Under: a lead too proud to be a beginner. Ties in: her worst sentence makes the lead laugh, then try.
A younger brother trains a goldfish to do one trick for the school fair.Under: a lead chasing a hard prize. Ties in: the fish fails in public, and he is proud anyway.
An old man repaints his front door a new color every month.Under: a lead who cannot settle. Ties in: he stops at the color his wife once chose, and says why.
The cafe's cook keeps rewriting one soup recipe and never serves it.Under: a lead who cannot finish a work. Ties in: the cook serves it, flawed, the night before.
The children on the street are building a raft from scrap.Under: adults planning a risky journey. Ties in: the raft sinks in the shallows, and they build another.
The lead's apprentice is making the mistake the lead once made.Under: a lead who hides their own past. Ties in: stopping the apprentice means telling it.
The lead's best friend is slowly repairing a boat that will never be seaworthy.Under: a quest that may not succeed. Ties in: he launches it anyway, and it floats for a minute.
The lead's mother writes letters to a friend she quarreled with and does not mail them.Under: a lead avoiding a hard talk. Ties in: she mails one, and the lead carries it to the box.
The lead's sister is training for a race she knows she will not win.Under: a lead who enters only to win. Ties in: she finishes last and happy, and the lead sees it.
The school caretaker is teaching a crow to return what it steals.Under: a story about a thief or a liar. Ties in: the crow brings back the one thing that matters.
The town's amateur players rehearse a play about a trial.Under: a real dispute in the town. Ties in: opening night says what the town meeting could not.
Two children run a lemonade stand and fall out over the money.Under: partners in a larger venture. Ties in: the children make up with a rule the adults borrow.
Two delivery drivers race each other along the same route every day.Under: rivals who need each other. Ties in: one breaks down, and the other finishes both rounds.
Two elderly sisters share a house and have divided it with tape.Under: a divided family or country. Ties in: one crosses the tape for a small emergency.
Two neighbors feud over a fence that neither of them built.Under: a story about a bigger border. Ties in: the fence comes down first and shows how.
It interrupts the main plot 25
A census taker keeps coming back with one more question.Under: a household hiding a guest. Ties in: the last question is how many sleep here.
A family wedding needs the lead for fittings, rehearsals and a speech.Under: a mystery with a deadline. Ties in: the last clue turns up at the reception.
A film crew has taken over the street.Under: a quiet search for someone. Ties in: the person sought is an extra in the crowd.
A jury summons arrives.Under: a lead who cannot spare a day. Ties in: the case on trial is a small version of the lead's own.
A new puppy has to be let out every three hours.Under: a long night's work. Ties in: on one trip outside, the lead sees what they were not meant to.
A relative arrives for a visit of no fixed length.Under: a plot that needs the house empty. Ties in: she sleeps in the room where the thing is hidden.
A stray dog turns up at the back door, and nobody in the house admits to feeding it.Under: a family keeping bigger secrets. Ties in: the dog follows the lead to the one place it must not.
A toothache gets worse all through the story.Under: a lead who must give a speech. Ties in: the dentist's one free hour is the hour of the speech.
An old friend keeps telephoning with good news to share.Under: a lead with bad news to hide. Ties in: the friend arrives in person at the worst hour.
The boy next door is learning the trumpet.Under: a lead who needs quiet to think. Ties in: the one tune he knows becomes the signal.
The car is failing one part at a time.Under: a chase or a journey. Ties in: it stops for good a mile from the end, and the mile is the scene.
The landlord is showing the apartment to buyers at short notice.Under: a project spread across the floor. Ties in: a buyer walks in on it and knows what it is.
The lead agreed months ago to coach a children's team.Under: a career on the line. Ties in: the final and the big meeting share a Saturday.
The lead has an exam on Friday and no time to study for it.Under: an adventure after school. Ties in: the exam and the showdown fall in the same hour.
The lead has been volunteered to bake for the school sale.Under: a rescue or a chase. Ties in: the cake has to be carried through the whole last scene.
The lead has promised to mind a neighbor's parrot, which repeats things.Under: a secret plan. Ties in: the parrot says the plan to the wrong visitor.
The lead owes a library fine, a favor and a phone call, and all three come due.Under: a lead who puts things off. Ties in: the favor is called in at the climax.
The lead's little brother has decided to run away and keeps announcing it.Under: a lead too busy to listen. Ties in: he goes on the day of the big event.
The lead's phone has a crack that hides one line of every message.Under: a plot run on messages. Ties in: the hidden line holds the word "not".
The lead's shoes are wearing through, and there is no day free to replace them.Under: a long walk or a pursuit. Ties in: the sole goes on the last hill.
The office is moving to another floor, and everything is in boxes.Under: a hunt for one document. Ties in: the right box is labeled in the lead's own hand.
The power goes off every evening at the same time.Under: a plot that depends on a machine. Ties in: the lead plans for it, and that night it stays on.
The roof starts to leak, and the bucket must be emptied every two hours.Under: a stakeout or a long wait. Ties in: the bucket overflows at the minute that matters.
Snow closes the school, and the children are home all week.Under: parents with a private crisis. Ties in: the children overhear it and act.
The town is rehearsing a parade, and the route changes daily.Under: a plot that must cross town fast. Ties in: the parade blocks the one road, on the day.
It supplies the missing piece 25
A boy on the street counts cars and writes down what he sees.Under: a question of who came and went. Ties in: his notebook has the license plate.
A child's drawing of the street hangs on the fridge.Under: a dispute about what stood where. Ties in: the drawing shows the tree before it was cut.
A classmate nobody likes is very good at reading maps.Under: a search. Ties in: the lead has to ask, and say please.
A cook at the diner remembers every regular's order.Under: a search for a stranger passing through. Ties in: she knows what he ate and where he was headed.
A grandfather tells the same dull story at every meal.Under: a family mystery. Ties in: on the tenth telling the lead hears the detail that changes it.
A night class in knots meets on Tuesdays.Under: a rescue. Ties in: the knot the lead got wrong in class is the one needed, and now it holds.
A pen pal in another country sends stamps and small news.Under: a puzzle with a foreign word in it. Ties in: the pen pal's next letter uses the word.
A piano in the hall is being tuned one key a week.Under: a hidden thing in an old house. Ties in: the key that will not tune has something behind it.
A retired seamstress next door is teaching the lead to sew, slowly.Under: a disguise, a sail or a flag needed fast. Ties in: last week's lesson is the one needed.
An uncle's old boat sits under a tarp in the yard, an eyesore.Under: a flood or a crossing. Ties in: it floats.
The lead helps a friend study for a geography test.Under: a journey with a wrong turn in it. Ties in: the one river they memorized is in front of them.
The lead is learning to whistle through two fingers and cannot.Under: a plot that needs a signal. Ties in: the first clean whistle comes when it counts.
The lead is teaching a neighbor's child to swim.Under: a plot that ends at water. Ties in: the child, not the lead, makes the swim.
The lead keeps a notebook of overheard remarks, as a hobby.Under: a dispute over who said what. Ties in: page forty settles it.
The lead takes a weekend job at a locksmith's to pay off a debt.Under: a story with a door at the end. Ties in: the skill and the debt both matter there.
The lead takes over a paper route and learns every porch.Under: a search for one house. Ties in: the route is the map.
The lead's aunt keeps a box of spare parts for machines she no longer owns.Under: a breakdown far from help. Ties in: one fits.
The lead's brother builds radios from scrap and has been told to stop.Under: a group cut off from help. Ties in: the forbidden radio is the only one working.
The lead's dog has a habit of burying shoes.Under: a hunt for a hidden thing. Ties in: the dog's digging turns it up, beside a shoe.
The lead's friend is learning to sign so that she can talk with a cousin who is deaf.Under: a need to speak across a room without a sound. Ties in: the few signs the lead picked up carry the message.
The lead's little sister asks "why" about everything.Under: a mystery the adults have stopped questioning. Ties in: her fifth "why" has no answer.
The lead's mother is tracing the family tree and sending off for records.Under: a claim that turns on who is related. Ties in: the envelope arrives in the last chapter.
The school's lost-property box has kept one glove for years.Under: a search for someone missing. Ties in: its pair turns up on the trail.
Someone has been leaving chalk arrows on the sidewalks.Under: a lead lost in a new city. Ties in: the arrows lead to the artist, who knows the way in.
The town's oldest resident is recording her memories on tape for the library.Under: a quarrel about who owns a field. Ties in: tape six mentions the boundary stone.
It raises the stakes 25
A child has decided that the lead is a hero and tells people so.Under: a lead with a compromise to make. Ties in: the child is in the room when it is made.
A friend has lent the lead something precious for the task.Under: a risky plan. Ties in: the plan can succeed only by losing it.
A garden the lead planted needs watering every day.Under: a lead called away. Ties in: who watered it, or did not, is the homecoming.
A scholarship depends on a clean record.Under: a plot that needs a rule broken. Ties in: it is broken in view of the one who signs the form.
A teacher is retiring and has asked the lead to speak.Under: a lead with a secret about that school. Ties in: the speech can be honest or kind.
A younger sibling starts copying everything the lead does.Under: a lead taking risks. Ties in: the copy follows into the risky part.
The band the lead plays in has its one big chance.Under: a duty elsewhere. Ties in: both fall on the same night, and the band will not wait.
The family shop is one bad month from closing.Under: a lead away on an adventure. Ties in: the month ends while they are gone.
The health inspector's visit to the lead's kitchen has been put off twice.Under: a lead hiding something there. Ties in: the inspector and the main trouble use the same door.
The lead has just been trusted with the keys.Under: a temptation to misuse a position. Ties in: the main plot needs one door opened after hours.
The lead has promised to be home for a birthday.Under: a journey that keeps getting longer. Ties in: the candles are lit as the lead reaches the gate.
The lead has told one small lie on a form.Under: a rise to public notice. Ties in: success brings the form back out of the drawer.
The lead is helping a nervous friend learn lines for a play.Under: a lead who keeps canceling. Ties in: opening night is the night the main plot peaks.
The lead is known all over a small town for never being late.Under: a secret errand. Ties in: the first lateness is noticed by everyone and explained by nobody.
The lead is the only one who walks the neighbor's blind dog.Under: a lead about to leave for good. Ties in: the dog waits at the gate that morning.
The lead promised to walk a small cousin to her first day of school.Under: a night that runs long. Ties in: the dawn of that day is the last scene.
The lead's best friend is moving away at the end of the summer.Under: a summer-long quest. Ties in: the last day of both is the same day.
The lead's father is proud of them for the wrong reason.Under: a deception. Ties in: he comes to watch on the day it comes apart.
The lead's grandmother is selling the house the lead grew up in.Under: a lead far from home. Ties in: the sale closes before the main plot does.
The lead's old dog can no longer manage long walks.Under: a lead who must travel. Ties in: going means leaving the dog, and deciding with whom.
The lead's rent is due on the day the main plot ends.Under: a job taken for love, not money. Ties in: finishing it means missing the shift that pays.
The lead's savings are in a jar marked for one purpose.Under: a friend in need. Ties in: the jar holds exactly enough.
The lead's small business has its first real customer.Under: a mystery pulling them away. Ties in: the customer's deadline and the answer arrive together.
The team has made the lead its captain.Under: a private trouble that needs time. Ties in: the team needs the lead on the same night.
Two of the lead's closest friends are feuding over a borrowed tent.Under: a task that needs both. Ties in: they will work together only if the lead stops taking sides.
How it works
These story ideas are subplots: 100 second threads to run under a main plot, such as a feud over a fence or an exam on Friday. Under each is the kind of story it suits and where it ties in.
Read the full guide
Sorted by how the thread ties back in
It mirrors: the main plot's question, asked smaller. It interrupts: it turns up at the worst hour. It supplies the missing piece: a part, a skill, a detail. It raises the stakes: one more thing the lead can lose.
Small on purpose
A subplot takes up less of the action than the main plot and happens to less important characters. So these stay small: a goldfish, a leaking roof, a jar of savings. None is a love story, and any could sit beside one.
Start the subplot early and let the reader forget it once. A forgotten thread ties in harder.
End it one scene before the main plot ends, or inside the same scene. Not after.
Questions and answers
What is a subplot?
A strand of plot that runs beside the main plot and supports it. Subplots often involve supporting characters, and may connect to the main plot in time and place or in theme. Screenwriters call it the B story.
How do I choose a subplot?
Ask what the main plot lacks. If it needs an echo, take a thread that mirrors it. If it runs too smoothly, take one that interrupts. If the ending needs a tool or a fact, take one that supplies it.
Does a subplot have to be a romance?
No, and none of these is. A grandmother learns to drive at seventy, a parrot repeats the plan to the wrong visitor, and an aunt's box of spare parts for machines she no longer owns finally holds the right one.
Where should a subplot meet the main plot?
At the high point or just before it. The exam falls in the hour of the showdown; the forbidden radio is the only one working. For that scene, see story climax ideas.