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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27326
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/27326
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

You could think of a subplot like a side dish to a meal. It provides contrasting or complementary flavours that enhance the overall dining experience.

How many side dishes are too many? When they overwhelm or confuse the senses? How many are too few? When the main dish grows dull and monotonous without them?

These are matters of taste. You tell by tasting. Does the dish need something? Is it being overwhelmed? Use your tastebuds.

In terms of plot mechanics (someone had to go to Aix to pick up a widget while the main party goes to Ghent) the subplot can be disposed on in a sentence ("We sent Tom and Fred to Aix to pick up a widget. They met up with us later at the inn in Ghent.") or it can be narrated in full over several chapters. Both will satisfy the mechanical requirements of the plot. Deciding whether to narrate it, therefore, comes down to whether it is necessary to balance the taste of the meal. Will their tale provide the reader with a delicious counterpoint to the main tale, or will it be a weary slog of redundant flavors.

An experienced cook no doubt develops a good sense of when they are going to need to add a side dish as they are designing the meal. A less experienced cook will definitely need to cook and taste and try different things before they develop the sensibility to know in advance what will be needed to produce the perfect balance of tastes that will make a memorable meal.

In short: it is a matter of taste, not plot mechanics, and you may actually have to sit down and write the thing in order to tell how much subplot it needs.

Original score: 7