Subplots are an integral part of your story; the filling in a sandwich that adds interest and complexity and supports the main plot. Subplots may involve supporting characters, connect to the main plot directly or indirectly, but may take up less of the space in the narrative, and have less impact on the world/characters than the main plot.
As such, it is essential to keep track of your subplots, and ensure that they entwine with your novel fluidly.
This article will help you create subplots within Novelcrafter, and some hints and tips to get the most of the feature.
Where do I put my subplots?
In Novelcrafter, you want to record your subplots in the codex. To do this:
Click new entry
Select the subplot entry type
Enter the details.
If you have multiple subplots in your story, we recommend using aliases to denote them - SP1, SP2 etc, for easy reference. Make sure that it is not something that will come up organically in your story prose.
What should I record in the subplot codex entry?
I like to include a summary of the subplot as a note-to-self. Most of the time, this won't be used in your prompting, and is for your own references. You could also include your plot description in the notes section. As the additions will track the story (see below), you want to avoid including too much of details that happen later in the story.
In the example below you can see that there is backstory to the subplot, but no details of how events it affects in the story.
How can I track the subplot through the story?
We track a subplot by using codex additions. You create these in the write interface, and link them to your subplot. To create them:
Go to the desired chapter in the write interface
Type "/" and select codex addition
Type your description for how the subplot affects the scene
Link the codex addition to the subplot codex entry
Where do I view the subplot?
You can view subplots in the write and plan interfaces, and in the respective codex entries. The best way to view them is in the matrix view of the plan interface. Here you can see that each of the subplot's codex additions show up for each scene. To access this view:
Go to the plan interface
Select matrix view
In the next dropdown menu, select subplots
How can I interact with my subplot using AI?
This is a multi-step process, so bear with me.
Prompt: The General Purpose prompt is sufficient for this, however you can also create your own.
AI Model: Any of the default models in the GP prompt will work. Claude Sonnet is a good balance of cost and power, if you want guidance for where to start.
To 'chat' with your subplot, in the chat interface:
1. Select the very last scene of your project as the scene context. This allows all the codex progressions to be seen by the LLM when you pull the codex reference up.
2. Ask your questions. Remember to refer to the subplot by its name, or the simplified alias you gave it earlier.
