: Re: The Subplot: What to do when it is only loosely tied to the main plot? The Background: I'm writing a novel that is set in the working quarters of a cruise ship. It's named after the "stage

@Martha805

There's no reason not to include it. It will display the fact that your protagonist does not exist inside a vacuum. Whilst her personal story progresses, so does everyone's, and the effects of this will be seen through the eyes of your protagonist. It will help to flesh out the characters you have created, and make the world more believable.

The issue is how much attention you pay to it, which depends on the type of story that you wish to write. If you wish to have a handful of main characters, then each of their personal stories must be pretty equal. They must all go through character arcs, have their own problems to overcome (even if they are the same problem, they each must have their own motivations and ways to overcome it), and they must all be worthy of a story.

However, if you still want to focus on a single character, you will have to sacrifice the depth to which you can run into the sub-plot. Your protagonist can see it all unfold, and possibly hear through the grapevine about certain occurrences, and then be there for the pivotal moments (either directly, or for example being a shoulder to cry on when something tragic happens).

This is not to say the sub-plot won't be unfolding, just that the protagonist would not be present for every single evolution of that plot (unless it was massively coincidental), as it is not her story.

Personally I love creating characters that have their own things going on outside the story of the protagonist. They each have their own stories, and they pass by each other like ships in the night, their stories intertwining for the briefest of moments before they go their separate ways. But that requires a certain amount of ruthlessness to discard these side-stories that might be interesting to a reader.

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