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What Colour is The Sky? (23/52)

What Colour is The Sky? (23/52)

(This tale is a series of drabbles tied together. A drabble is a story in exactly 100 words. I realized that since it’s October, my usually dark stories will not feel out of place, momentarily.)

When you first set eyes upon the island at 7.3195° S, 72.4229° E, you realise that you did not expect the sky above it to be olive green. You stare at it, your eyes set on nothing in particular. You…

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Thoughts on May 9, 2020 at 00:02 (22/52)

On day 60 of staying home, exactly at 00:02, I wanted to talk to Grief.

There is no particular reason why. 

One second I was lying on the bed looking at pictures of the sky taken several months ago, and the next, I was frantically writing this.

Grief bent itself into a reflection of my face in my mirror when I brushed my teeth. It gushed, seething, when I tried to push food down my…

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On Fanfiction

I was cruising through the net, following the cold trail of one of the periodic “Is or is not Fanfic the Ultimate Literary Evil?” arguments that crop up regularly, and I’m now bursting to make a point that I never see made by fic defenders.

We’re all familiar with the normal defenses of fic: it’s done out of love, it’s training, it’s for fun. Those are all good and valid defenses!

But they miss something. They damn with faint praise. Because the thing is, when you commit this particular Ultimate Literary Evil you’ve now told a story. And stories are powerful. The fact that it wasn’t in an original world or with original characters doesn’t necessarily make it less powerful to any given reader.

I would never have made this argument a few years ago. A few years ago I hadn’t received messages from people who were deeply touched by something I wrote in fanfic. So what if it’s only two or three or four people, and I used someone else’s world and characters? For those two or three or four people, I wrote something fucking important. You cannot tell me that isn’t a valid use of my time and expect me to feel chastened. I don’t buy it. I won’t feel ashamed. I will laugh when you call something that touches other people ‘literary masturbation.’ Apparently you’re not too up on your sex terminology.

Someone could argue that if I’d managed the same thing with original characters in an original world, it could’ve touched more people. They might be right! On the other hand, it might never have been accepted for publication, or found a market if self published, and more importantly I would never have written it because I didn’t realize I could write. The story wouldn’t have happened. Instead, thanks to fanfic being a thing, it did. And for two or three or four people it mattered. When we talk about defending fanfic, can we occasionally talk about that?

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I’m wondering, how do I come up with good ideas to write a sub-plot that actually fits into the story and won’t make the reader lose the connection with the main plot?

How to Write A Sub Plot

If you look back on every single bestselling book ever printed, the chances are that most, if not all of them, contain sub-plots.

A sub-plot is part of a book that develops separately from the main story, and it can serve as a tool that extends the word count and adds interest and depth into the narrative.

Sub-plots are key to making your novel a success, and, although they aren’t necessary for shorter works, are an essential aspect of story writing in general.

However, sub-plots can be difficult to weave into the main plot, so here are a few tips on how to incorporate sub-plots into your writing.

1. Know Your Kinds of Sub-Plots and Figure Out Which is Best For Your Story

Sub-plots are more common than you think, and not all of them extend for many chapters at a time.

A sub-plot doesn’t have to be one of the side characters completely venturing off from the main group to struggle with their own demons or a side quest that takes up a quarter of the book. Small things can make a big difference, and there are many of these small things that exist in literature that we completely skip over when it comes to searching for sub-plots.

Character Arcs

Character arcs are the most common sub-plot.

They show a change in a dynamic character’s physical, mental, emotional, social, or spiritual outlook, and this evolution is a subtle thing that should definitely be incorporated so that the readers can watch their favorite characters grow and develop as people.

For example, let’s say that this guy named Bob doesn’t like his partner Jerry, but the two of them had to team up to defeat the big bad.

While the main plot involves the two of them brainstorming and executing their plans to take the big bad down, the sub-plot could involve the two getting to know each other and becoming friends, perhaps even something more than that.

This brings me to the second most common sub-plot:

Romance

Romance can bolster the reader’s interest; not only do they want to know if the hero beats the big bad guy, they also want to know if she ends up with her love interest in the end or if the warfare and strife will keep them apart.

How to Write Falling in Love

How to Write a Healthy Relationship

How to Write a Romance

Like character arcs, romance occurs simultaneously with the main plot and sometimes even influences it.

Side-Quests

There are two types of side-quest sub-plots, the hurtles and the detours.

Hurdle Sub-Plots

Hurdle sub-plots are usually complex and can take a few chapters to resolve. Their main purpose is to put a barrier, or hurdle, between the hero and the resolution of the main plot. They boost word count, so be careful when using hurdle sub-plots in excess.

Think of it like a video game.

You have to get into the tower of a fortress to defeat the boss monster.

However, there’s no direct way to get there; the main door is locked and needs to have three power sources to open it, so you have to travel through a monster-infested maze and complete all of these puzzles to get each power source and unlock the main door.

Only, when you open the main door, you realize that the bridge is up and you have to find a way to lower it down and so forth.

Detour Sub-Plot

Detour sub-plots are a complete break away from the main plot. They involve characters steering away from their main goal to do something else, and they, too, boost word count, so be careful not too use these too much.

Taking the video game example again.

You have to get to that previously mentioned fortress and are on your way when you realize there is an old woman who has lost her cattle and doesn’t know what to do. 

Deciding the fortress can wait, you spend harrowing hours rounding up all of the cows and steering them back into their pen for the woman.

Overjoyed, the woman reveals herself to be a witch and gives you a magical potion that will help you win the fight against the big bad later.

**ONLY USE DETOUR SUB-PLOTS IF THE OUTCOME HELPS AID THE PROTAGONISTS IN THE MAIN PLOT**

If they’d just herded all of the cows for no reason and nothing in return, sure it would be nice of them but it would be a complete waste of their and the readers’ time!

2. Make Sure Not to Introduce or Resolve Your Sub-Plots Too Abruptly

This goes for all sub-plots. Just like main plots, they can’t be introduced and resolved with a snap of your fingers; they’re a tool that can easily be misused if placed into inexperienced hands.

Each sub-plot needs their own arc and should be outlined just like how you outlined your main plot.

How to Outline Your Plot

You could use my methods suggested in the linked post, or you could use the classic witch’s hat model if you feel that’s easier for something that’s less important than your main storyline.

3. Don’t Push It

If you don’t think your story needs a sub-plot, don’t add a sub-plot! Unneeded sub-plots can clutter up your narrative and make it unnecessarily winding and long.

You don’t have to take what I’m saying to heart ever!

It’s your story, you write it how you think it should be written, and no one can tell you otherwise!

Hope this Helped!

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Book Talk (21/52)

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

Jane Austen

HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY!

On the days that it rains, my books never speak to me. 

Not that they speak to me much even when it’s almost winter-like, or on a non-existent spring morning, or on a sultry, summer day like today. But what bothers me most is them not speaking to me at…

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Two Minutes and Fifty Three Seconds (20/52)

(Trigger warning: death, violence)

Two minutes and fifty three seconds before she was killed, Yumi was thinking about soup.

She pressed the flatiron gently on her yellow sundress—the one with daisy chains on it. While she did, she thought about the cold soup on the counter that she was waiting to return to room temperature so she could reheat it for lunch, because she really didn’t want her…

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Buying Candles (19/52)

What happens when you go to buy candles?

You walk down into the crisp air of September with the right amount of birds chirping in your ear, a sweet melody of instrumental music playing somewhere in the distance, your hand quivering as the soil does right before an earthquake, the other hand trying to shush it, and your fingers involuntarily tighten on the small bag you’re holding to put the…

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My Father And The Lockdown (18/52)

My father digests holidays very well. On 22nd March, 2020, he entered the lockdown, tried to digest it and 7 days later, he is still trying.

At 3:46 PM on that day, he texted us ominously: “I have left from work. They won’t let us stay anymore. They’re shutting everything down.” He came home, with a face we couldn’t decipher was a happy or a sad one, and didn’t speak much for the rest of the…

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Musings on a Pandemic (17/52)

Wrote down some thoughts, moments and glimpses from a shaken planet.

When you sit at home with a well-made ‘Quarantine/Social Distancing To Do List’ and you find yourself not doing all of the things on it because your mind is too occupied imagining all kinds of moments around the world happening in that instant – moments of grief, illness, tragedy, ruin and maybe the rare, hidden joy – you feel like those moments must be written down, documented, dealt with and…

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Looking for Friends on A Rainy Day (16/52)

To an outsider, it would seem as if the boy was talking to his shadow.

The boy was walking slowly, carefully, through the pouring rain with nothing to cover his head, with his thin shirt soaking wet and plastered to his protruding ribs, with anguish-filled eyes and twigs in his long hair. 

“Don’t leave me. Don’t you dare leave me,” he whispered furiously with his gaze fixed on the ground. 

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The Well of Knowledge (15/52)

It took me months to write this very real, very personal tale. I am sorry for my absence and ecstatic to be back and writing.

I found myself in a well one day. I struggled to get out of it. It didn’t go too well.

You see, the well that I was in, it was not like the others. Its walls weren’t grey, or black, or slimy with vomit-green moss sticking to it, insects chittering around or water…

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Yes, yes and yes again.

not sure if this will make sense to anyone besides me but: the antidote to negativity is not positivity, its warmth

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Teacher: You can’t write an essay overnight.

Exam: You have one hour to write an essay.

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“You think ‘Okay, I get it, I’m prepared for the worst’, but you hold out that small hope, see, and that’s what f**ks you up. That’s what kills you.” - Stephen King, Joyland

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OHMYGOD

I painted Raven Cycle characters by Maggie Stiefvater for Shelflove crate 

hope you guys will like it 

Ronan

Adam

Noah

Gansay

Blue

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Write, draw, sing.

Create something that's fun. Sketch terribly, write something that doesn't make sense. Sing about something random.

Have fun creating something. Do it for yourself. We get so caught up with doing things to get better, to be the best or to make money.

Yeah them things are good. But they become a chore you're not having fun doing them. Plus when your having fun and experimenting you're learning.

You might experiment with a new art media and discover you really enjoy working with it so you do more pieces.

You might write a random sentence or paragraph that sparks another idea that you'll write later.

You might come up with a song idea or hit that note you couldn't before. You might come up with a really fun song to share with others.

Experiment. Create. Enjoy.