Why have a historical subplot?

by Deborah Swift

I thought it might be nice to have a post on the craft of writing historical fiction as many of this blog's followers are writers like myself. So today I thought I would look at the art of the subplot.

What is a subplot?
Think of a subplot as a miniature novel embedded within the main novel that you are working on. Many writers do this without thinking as part of their natural writing process, and create several additional plots in their books. Subplots are particularly useful in historical fiction because often the main plot is dictated by historical events that a writer cannot (or doesn't want to) change. 

Why have a subplot?
The function of a subplot can have many aspects:

To give the impression that your historical world is teeming with complex characters and background action, just like in real life, and to supply a plausible social context.

To give a break from the main storyline, particularly if it is one of historical tragedy, political complexity, or in some other way relentlessly exhausting. This can be for comic relief, or just to introduce a different tone.

To expand the dilemmas of the protagonist by showing how they affect the wider world, particularly if your protagonist is influential (Kings etc). Often the subplot can include characters of a different or lower class, a different culture or different background.

To show how your protagonist's nature changes over time by his/her reactions to events in the subplot, and by introducing unforseen complications or difficulties in the subplot that further test character.

To extend the main action, weaving in another narrative, so that resolutions don't come to quickly or too early, and to enable the plausible passing of time. This is particularly useful where historical evidence leaves gaps that need to be filled.

To add an element of unpredictability where the historical facts are widely known, and the reader knows what the likely ending will be.

To reflect the overall themes and concerns of the novel through another prism, so enhancing the impact of the novel as a whole.

* * *

A single plot line in a historical novel often makes the novel appear 'thin'. Subplots flesh out the historical world and act as the glue or connecting thread that holds together the main events. The most effective subplots support the main plot to add depth, rather than overwhelm it. In most novels, the secondary action usually begins after the main plotline has been established and finishes a little earlier, and for a writer takes up less words than the main plot. 

I love to work with subplots - they give me the chance to work with a diversity of characters in their place within history. In fact I find subplots are so tempting that I often have to cut them when they do not directly enhance or add significance to my main story, or if the characters want to expand to take over the whole book!


Writers, how do you like working with subplots? How do you balance your plotting? And readers out there, can you think of a subplot that was so fascinating it took your attention away from the main action?

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images from http://antiqueimages.blogspot.co.uk

More about me:  www.deborahswift.blogspot.com

Find out more about my books 
The Lady's Slipper
The Gilded Lily
A Divided Inheritance (Oct 2013)

Historical Urban Myths by Deborah Swift

As a writer of historical fiction I am fascinated by the stories we inherit about history. Quite a few of these are 'urban myths' - stories that travel orally usually via bars or other social meeting grounds. I recently came across an entertaining one which apparently went viral across the internet in the 1980's. 

image of Titanic from www.bbc.co.uk

A Russian destroyer was on manoeuvres near Iceland when the captain spotted a strange dark shape on an iceberg floating some distance away. They went in closer for a better look and saw it was a woman, dressed in a long black dress and lying on her back. She was encased in a thin layer of ice.

A party of men including a physician went to investigate and spent almost an hour freeing her from the ice. However her outdated clothes showed she had perhaps been frozen for fifty years or more. In the pockets of the woman's coat were found a brooch, a purse with old english money, and a number of documents including one that said she was a passenger on the Titanic which had sunk off Newfoundland in 1912.

Upon being 'defrosted' the woman apparently opened her eyes, but attempts to resuscitate her failed.

Allegedly this event was hushed up and did not get the media attention it deserved because the Russian vessel should not have been in those waters and was acting illegally.

Hearses lined up on Halifax wharf ready to take R.M.S. Titanic victims 

So how do I know it's a myth? Because of its unlikely nature. It is just too many unlikely coincidences. Yet this story could make a good novel with a little more detail and veracity. As a writer I am always attempting to make unlikely or dramatic events feel real to the reader. 

Most literature consists of unlikely events - too much plot for the average real life - yet good novels feel real. Some of this is to do with manipulating timing, so that unlikely events are spread well apart in the novel, some of it is because what could have been 'coincidences' are given good background reasons. For example it is a wild coincidence if the detective accidentally finds himself in the same hotel in a strange town as the killer, but not a coincidence if he has spent a whole book following him there. 

More detail, such as that found in old photographs like the one above of hearses waiting to carry recovered bodies away, helps to anchor the story in reality. Photo credit Of course (unsurprisingly) there is no photo of the woman found on the iceberg in the 1980's, but as a novelist I could use detail from old photographs such as this to help the reader imagine the scene.

Unlikely events feel more real if the characters act like human beings and acknowledge the strangeness and try to find a more plausible explanation.

But I think urban myths are fascinating and would love to hear your historical urban myths. (Bones of Richard III found in a city car park does not count!)

My two books are out now, click on the covers to read more about them.