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If the Relationship is the Primary Plot (A Story), What is the Secondary (B Story)?

As I've talked about several times on here, most stories are made up of three different dominating plotlines, and most commonly, they are these:

External--this is the character's outer journey. The character has a concrete goal, encounters an external antagonist, and struggles with the conflict to get the goal.

Internal--this is the character's inner journey. The character has an abstract want, and in pursuing that, completes a character arc. The antagonist is the self.

Relationship--this is a relationship journey. The character either aims to draw close to or increase distance from another person (or maintain the relationship as is). The antagonistic force is what is upsetting that. How it is resolved completes a relationship arc.

In the writing community (specifically in screenwriting), typically the external and internal weave together to make up what people call the "A Story." The A Story is seen as the primary plot.

The B Story is the secondary plot. It's most commonly a relationship. In fact, it's so commonly a relationship, that the term often gets used to mean a relationship plot, but in reality, not all B Stories are relationship stories.

Like the B Story, I have some qualms about the term "A Story," since not every book and film has an internal plotline.

And as this post suggests, in reality, the A Story isn't always the external plotline either. Yes, it almost always is, but not always.

Sometimes the relationship plotline is the A Story.

Sometimes the relationship arc is the primary plot.

This is obviously true in the romance genre. People consume that genre, because they want to see how the relationship arcs. They care more about that than the internal journey, or the external journey. The relationship journey is the main plot.

But romance isn't the only genre that gets to place the relationship as the A Story. Sure, there are subgenres, like paranormal romance or romantic fantasy, but you can also find these plots in straight-up fantasy, science fiction, mystery, drama, and most (though not all) other genres. And the relationship need not be a romantic one. It can be any kind of relationship--one between best friends, mentor and mentee, or even rivals or enemies. It doesn't have to be a "love" story. The relationship doesn't even have to be positive.

When you make a relationship plot the A Story, what this means is that it gets the most focus. It gets the lion's share of the scenes. And often the other plotlines feed into, support, or contrast it, in a way that further highlights the relationship.

A question I have occasionally been asked is, what is the B Story if the A Story is a relationship?

Because "B Story" frequently gets used to refer to "relationship plot," often people wonder if their B Story needs to be another relationship plot.

And the fact that I argue that most successful stories have three dominating plotline types also adds to the confusion. How and where do the external and internal plotlines fit? Or any others? If the relationship is the A Story? Do you need the other types?

The short answer is that, yes, you will usually still have external and internal plotlines. These usually weave to make up the secondary plot, the B Story. They still exist, but they get less emphasis. We flip the positions of the typical A Story and B Story plotlines.

And while you don't have to have an additional relationship plot, most of these narrative arcs will have a second one, it's just even less important than these other three plotlines.

And of course, there may be other plotlines too, like a societal plotline.

But typically in these narratives, the three dominating plotlines are still relationship, external, and internal, it's just that the relationship gets centre stage.

Let's look at some examples to illustrate.

I'm going to start with something simplistic, first.

Example 1: The Hallmark "Formula"

When you watch a typical Hallmark movie, the A Story is the relationship plot. It's about the protagonist falling in love with a hunky guy.

This gets the most focus. This is the main reason people watch Hallmark movies.

The external and internal plotlines still exist though. 

Often the external plotline relates to the protagonist's job, or at least a task she needs to complete.

The internal plotline is what she learns and how she grows, during the experience of the story.

But both of these plotlines are usually used to bolster or highlight the relationship arc.

Often the protagonist eventually abandons or changes her concrete goal (the external plot), because she chooses to prioritize the new relationship over it. And almost always the reason she arcs the way she does (internal plot), is because the relationship revealed how she needed to change.

Usually, there is an additional relationship plot going on, but to a smaller degree, like maybe between the protagonist and her love interest's kid, or the kid and a grandparent, but this gets even less attention.

If we want to just fill things out even more, it's common for there to be a societal plotline as well, perhaps about some holiday tradition the town hosts or a beloved store about to go out of business.

So we see how the Hallmark "formula" still hits these plotlines, while propping up the relationship as the A Story.

Of course, though, not all of us want to write the equivalent of a Hallmark movie, and some of us don't want to write about romantic relationships that end happily ever after.

So let's look at another, more complex example.

Example 2: Wicked

At the end of last year, the film adaptation of Wicked (Part I) came out.

This is not a romance story, but the relationship plotline is the primary plot, the A Story.

I mean, what do most people think about when they think about Wicked? Elphaba and Glinda's relationship arc. This is an enemies-to-best-friends story . . . sort of . . . well, it has some complexity/caveats. 

When you watch the film, most of the story, most of the scenes, are focused on Elphaba and Glinda.

This doesn't mean the internal and external journeys don't exist--they absolutely do. But again, they get less time and attention.

Elphaba wants to fit in (physically) with others, so she can avoid being othered and bullied, and she plans to do this by seeing the wizard and having him change her appearance. Internal want, external goal.

We also have an additional relationship plotline going on, a love triangle between Glinda, Fiyero, and Elphaba.

And there is a societal plotline too, which is that the animals are losing their ability to talk and are being marginalized. This influences Elphaba personally (after all, she knows what it's like to be pushed to the sidelines), changing her external objective so that she wants to ask the wizard to help the animals.

These are all important things.

But they get little screen time compared to Elphaba and Glinda's relationship.

And I would even argue that many of these things are used to highlight the characters in that relationship.

For example, at first listen, "Defying Gravity" seems like an anthem about Elphaba coming into her own to take a stand for those on the sidelines, and in some sense, it is. But when you really look at the song, Elphaba and Glinda's relationship still gets most of the attention. The song (and situation) is again showcasing how these characters contrast each other, and where their relationship stands because of (or in spite of) it. At first, they are angry and telling each other off, then they arc into mutual respect. They move from irony and sarcasm, to sincerity.

Sure, Elphaba chooses to risk their relationship to pursue her new goal, but the story is still largely highlighting the relationship, even if the characters move physically apart.

This is an ending that is more complex. It nonetheless is still an example of a narrative where the A Story is a relationship, and the B Story becomes the external and internal journeys.

Example 3: The Prestige

One more example.

I've referred to the film The Prestige multiple times on here when talking about relationships, because it's one of the few well-known films where the A Story is a relationship plotline, and that relationship is a negative one.

It's about two magicians who are trying to sabotage and destroy each other.

That is the primary plot of the film.

Does the protagonist have an internal and external journey? Yes. But it is this relationship that gets centre stage. In fact, in this example, it's the relationship that informs the other two. The protagonist's external goal is to outdo another's magical performance. His internal journey is about how he refuses to forgive, change, and move on from all the ill feelings he has toward his enemy. It's about how his thirst for revenge damns his personal progression as a human being.

The film is primarily about a relationship.

So, in conclusion, when the A Story is a relationship plot, then typically the B Story will be the external and internal journeys.

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Felix Wesch

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Writing Techniques #1b: Characterization

Hey all! This post will be focusing on how you write your side characters, both major and minor. Hope you enjoy!

Where to start First of all, the foundation to your side character is really no different than your protagonists. What is their place in the world, what is their goal and why do they have that goal? The biggest difference is that you will want to design your side characters to have goals that run parallel or directly against those of your protagonist, so as to keep them from being awkwardly isolated from the rest of the story. Notably, the ideal place to be with a side character’s goals is actually somewhere in between the two extremes I just described - neither utterly complacent nor wholly inversed. This applies to all characters, including your villain!

To argue or agree A significant component to writing a believable world is to make your characters’ reactions feel reasonable. By that, I really mean just having your characters get mad when they would actually get mad, not just for the sake of driving the story forward, and having your characters “go along with it” to a similarly reasonable degree. Constant friction will slow your book to a crawl, but if nobody sees consequences for their decisions, it’ll remove all tension. Ultimately, the balance in between is best found by testing different characters and how they interact with each-other, immersing yourself in them until you feel like you know what makes them mad and what makes them surrender. 

Who to focus on

You might run into the issue of not wanting to give more focus to your side characters than your protagonist, though you simultaneously have the urge to explore them more or feel like that is where the story should go. There are definitely times where you should go through with exploring them, and times when you shouldn’t: this largely depends on the side character’s presence in the story. You’ll be forgiven for taking the time to delve into the protagonist’s best friend, but the blacksmith’s apprentice they see maybe twice a year probably shouldn’t get the same focus unless you plan to do something significant to the story with them. 

Additionally, I just want to say that there is nothing wrong with wanting to explore your side characters - in fact, that’s fantastic! Whether you go through with writing it or not, just allowing them that presence shows you care for the world you’re creating, and it gives you a better sense of how the world works. There is also nothing wrong with that intrigue exceeding what you, in the moment, feel for the protagonist - they are (presumably) sticking around for the whole story, after all. You settle into feeling a certain way for them, like when you love someone for a very long time. 

A plot device with a face Then, there is the inverse problem. One of the biggest writing sinkholes I can think of is when you write your side characters as tools that provide specific things to completing the protagonist’s objective. 

The thief they recruit exists purely to pick open locks without a name or real personality beyond “sneaky and maybe witty”; the mayor is there for them to convince into allowing the conference room to be used for meetings, with no other connection or major influence upon the story despite his position and all it has taken him to get there. These characters do not contribute any more to the story than physical tools do, and accomplish little besides steering the reader’s attention to what seem like points of interest, only to fall flat. 

Do not do this! If a character is not important enough to the story to have beliefs and skills and a history that leads them in life, either leave them out or rewrite them to where they do. You need to give your characters the time and love necessary for them to shine, or else you will end up with what is very vaguely called… A two-dimensional character!!!

Connections matter Even with a well-designed, multifaceted character, it is important to consider how they connect to the rest of the world. Have they met other side characters or even the protagonist in the past? Are they familiar with key locations and concepts that they can then elaborate on or otherwise help with? These connections make your world easier to comprehend, easier to visualize, which is a great boon to the reading experience. 

Value of a craft This is kind of obvious, but all your characters must contribute something to the story. Be that through who they are, their resources, their skills or the sheer situation they have been forced into, you need to show the audience why a character is worth following. Simultaneously, you cannot have any character in your story be an everyman - they must have flaws, both personal and practical, things they are worse at and things they simply cannot handle. Characters with a great deal of practical skills, assassins or scholars, may fall short in things like emotional intelligence, failing to comprehend their own feelings and their sources. Inversely, characters who possess great kindness and empathy can become a crutch for the aforementioned practically skilled. If you want to make a heartwrenching moment in your story, having them lose that person may be worth looking into. 

The End Thanks for reading! This is a slightly shorter post, because I have a headache and cannot think of anything else to say that wouldn’t at least double the length of this thing. It feels kind of silly, trying to condense a topic as vague and broad as “side characters” into a single post but I’m already doing, like, four parts for the very first writing technique and I don’t want to drag this out even longer. 

You might also notice that the style between these posts is shifting a lot, and that’s because I’m still trying to figure out what feels best. This post also doesn’t have any written examples, like the fury post did, but that’s because I went completely off track and wrote an example better fit for a post about protagonists and dynamics and stuff, so… I guess I’ll be posting an addendum to that one fairly soon! 

By the way the post on Fury is almost at 20 notes and I mean holy crap I’ve been here for like four days this is insane!!! Thanks so much for reading these things!!! And if there’s anything you’d like to see more of in future posts don’t be afraid to message me or comment or send asks or whisper my name precisely thirteen times before you go to bed!!!

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Have you ever been so in love with a story you created that you hide it away from the world?

It's not that you're not confident in your writing, you just feel so protective of your characters that you lock away your manuscript.

Or is it that you wrote too much of yourself in your protagonist and now you feel exposed??

🤔🤔

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6 Quick Writing Exercises to Wake Up Your Imagination

We all hit those blah writing days. Your fingers are ready, your doc is open... and your brain goes static. That’s where writing exercises come in — small creative boosts to shake off the dust and get back into your story flow. Here are six to try when your words feel stuck in traffic.

1. The 5-Minute Word Sprint

Pick a random word (use a generator or close your eyes and point at a book), set a 5-minute timer, and write anything involving that word. No stopping, no deleting.

2. Dialogue Without Context

Write a short convo between two people. No descriptions. No setting. Just back-and-forth lines.

3. Rewrite a Scene in Another Genre

Take a scene from your current story and flip the genre. Drama becomes comedy. Fantasy becomes sci-fi. Romance becomes horror.

4. Describe a Place Using the Five Senses — No Sight Allowed

Can’t mention what anything looks like. Only sound, touch, smell, taste, and intuition.

5. Character Swap POVs

Write a paragraph from the POV of a side character reacting to your main character. Bonus if the POV is brutally honest or completely wrong.

6. One Line Story Hooks

Write 3 one-sentence story starters that make you want to keep writing. (Example: “I woke up married to my enemy, and worse — he knew it before I did.”)

You don’t need to write a masterpiece every day. But showing up — even for a silly exercise — keeps the creative part of your brain warmed up. Try one of these before your next writing session, and see where it takes you. 🍒

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guys my drafts are spread out so fucking chaotically. dont even get me started on my notes. keeping track of all my ideas and additions to scenes is impossible when my first and second drafts and all my ideas are spread out between two notebooks, two google docs, 7 pieces of looseleaf sketch paper, a tiny ass notepad, words i wrote on my arm but have since been washed away, and my notes app.

i cannot thrive in these conditions.

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writer math:

outline: 3 scenes

target: 2,000 words

actual: 7,300 words, 2 betrayals, wine that tastes like grief, lace that remembers, and someone meets God’s gaze without blinking.

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In my opinion (and this is, just to be clear, just an opinion - what you find good may or may not differ), really “good” writing is defined by contrast, not consistency

Take purple prose for example. It’s not bad. In fact, if done well, that flowing, flowery style of writing can be extremely good !! But the problem is that “doing it well” requires adding a little bit of beige into your purple

Likewise, beige prose, dry, clipped, and straightforward, can be done really well, too !! If you add a bit of purple into that beige before serving.

Writing in purely beige or purely purple prose ends up feeling monotonous and boring. Like eating only candy for all three meals of the day, too much purple prose feels like cloying and oversweet. Like never eating candy again, too much beige prose feels boring and clinical

Of course, keep in mind that this post is based off of my experiences and my opinions. There are absolutely ways to pull off a pure-purple or pure-beige novel, if you’re experienced and talented enough in the art of writing (though I would like to point out, not for nothing, that even such books tend to have wildly varying levels of purple or beige, creating the same form of contrast)

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I have no outline tho, just vibes

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ok I saw this poll and thought... lets write the tumblr review nobody asked for: but here it is:

The Host (2013)

Listen. I do like The Host (the book). I also like the weird body-sharing morality, the awkward four-people-in-three-bodies romance tangle, the "what does it mean to be human" vibes. (is that a love quare or something?) So I rewatched the movie thinking: maybe it aged better than I remember.

It didn’t.

💥 What went wrong?

Some book-to-screen transitions just don’t work. Like. At all. Lines that felt gentle or internal in the book? In the movie they sound like secondhand embarrassment with a sci-fi filter.

Saoirse Ronan is an amazing actress (only love!) but some of Wanda’s reactions are just... a half-beat off. Not tragic, just slightly wrong. Like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth. I'm not sure if it was the lack of chemistry or because the whole movie was off beat.

Andrew Niccol, director of Gattaca, was maybe too gentle with it. This story has edge. Pain. Power struggles. A literal alien occupation. But the film vibes like a pastel daydream with slow pans and soft music.

🌱 Why it still kinda works tho:

Ian. An underrated sweet soft boy. Would fight actual aliens with his bare hands for Wanda. Jake Abel doing the best with what he got.

Jeb with a shotgun is my emotional support grandpa.

Doc is precious.

Handsome freaking Burns at the last second. Please give me more of him.

And Emily Browning as the new Wanda after the switch? ICONIC. Give her a whole trilogy immediately please.

⚔️ What it needed?

More grit.

More internal tension externalized.

More danger.

Fewer whispered voiceovers like we’re stuck inside a sentient NPR segment.

And look, I get it. After the Twilight chaos, Stephenie probably wanted peace. But there’s a way to do peaceful with emotional stakes. Right now it’s like:

“The aliens invaded humanity and now it’s awkward... but in a very soft-spoken way.”

📚 Will there ever be a sequel?

She said she was working on it.

She named the sequels (The Seeker, The Soul).

That was like… 2009.

crickets.

I’m still rooting for it. I’m rooting for Wanda. I’m rooting for Emily Browning’s version especially. I’m rooting for gritty sci-fi with tenderness and teeth.

But this movie? Soft sci-fi without the teeth. Still pretty. Still interesting. Still deserves a re-do.

3.5/5 stars. Would rewatch. Would cringe. Would still feel things.

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Historical fiction writers at 2:46am be like

– how long does it take to bleed out in a field – could someone stab you with a hairpin – how did medieval people mourn – would a queen notice if her ring was stolen – did people think thunder was a sign – how loud was it inside a castle during storms – did anyone ever die from a broken heart in history

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You're sitting having tea when your Tiny Maid Robot walks up to you, eyes flashing red. "Excuse me, master. I must request you relocate to the basement, immediately. You are in immediate danger."

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writers be like me: puts laundry in washing machine also me: “She moved through the motions of domesticity like a ghost, haunted by deadlines and dialogue she hadn’t written yet.”

“she folded the shirt like she folded her emotions: neatly, quietly, and with a growing sense of dread.”

like bestie i’m just trying to EXIST.

I can't do a single normal thing anymore. me brushing my teeth: “Foam gathered at the corners of her mouth like sea foam on a stormy shore. Her thoughts, however, were elsewhere. Probably on that one scene she rewrote 17 times.”

Is this a coping mechanism? Yes. Is this healthy? Debatable. Is this relatable? I sure freaking hope so.

Has every writer become the unreliable narrator of their own Tuesday morning?

And the worst part? I edit myself. IN REAL TIME. “She looked out the window—no wait—gazed. Yes. Gazed is better. More emotionally repressed.”

And yes. I absolutely do pause when someone says something dramatic so i can mentally insert it into chapter 14.

"It wasn’t that she romanticized her life. It’s just that her brain refused to stop writing."

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pay attention

Cr: -Komairu- on reddit

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You were a child when you wandered into your fathers lab during an experiment. Since then you have been able to see the worlds beyond, and occasionally your father too. Today, as an adult, they are threatening to commit you, so you decide to pull something for the first time.

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A youtube playlist with music that helps me write the characters.

What do you listen to while writing?

Feel free to drop your playlists or favorite tracks!!!

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so many times

*This poll was submitted to us and we simply posted it so people could vote and discuss their opinions on the matter. If you’d like for us to ask the internet a question for you, feel free to drop the poll of your choice in our inbox and we’ll post them anonymously (for more info, please check our pinned post).