How do you write a complex story with multiple plot lines?

[BlackKnightX]

I like a story with multiple plot lines and lots of different routes to explore. It’s like I’m really living inside a whole new world with lots of different stories within. It kind of makes things more… real, somehow.

I know about the story arc and such, but I’m not talking about that here. I’m talking about the the many plot lines underlying these story arcs. For example, while the mc is in the arc of saving his companions from captives, that’s the main arc at the time. But then there would be something sprinkling along the way, like some seeds that would be explored and revealed later on in the different arc.

What I’m asking here is, how do you plan all of that? Are there any specific steps you take? How do you weave it all in together and make one complex yet cohesive whole? Please, share. Thanks in advance~

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

A basic way of branching out the plotline would be to create multiple POV with different characters. One would be following the main cast while another POV would follow different characters or settings that play out at different views.

Like, a POV of the main cast trying to rescue characters while a POV of a king or soldier would portray a different event that play out at the same time.

Main Cast POV:
The MC are on a track to rescue his comrades that were captured by the enemy while having difficulties if they ever live or die depending on the enemies viciousness.

A different POV:
A soldier that saw the MC's group leave the city then saw a dark clouds forming on the horizon, then he notice that it wasn't ordinary but ignores it.

Another different POV:
In a lush forest, a group of animals slowly decay and lifeless, knowing that some sort of mysterious mist slowly begining to spur out of nowhere, once it touches a life, it slowly decays and drains the life of the organism it touches.

This is one example of creating a different POV which there are more ways to create one depending on how a writer tells his story.

 

[Kilolo]

for visualization

Spoiler: branching line

just pick whatever suit you, the big line is the main storyline, the small line is the plot device or whatever you called it.

also, things that supposed to be obvious but for some reason lots of author missed it : the main storyline should be thicker than the extra one, but most people just trying to make the extra line to be as awesome as the main line. they just missed the point.

 

[Zsaitisl]

Character's pov really, Just make sure the characters come together or the events that they face are interconnected somehow

 

[Syringe]

Dialogue.

Make what seems like simple chatter actually be the seeds to certain elements in the world, which later on can blossom as a full blown location/plotline of its own, or even carry some sort of significance to the overall plot/world events. It makes readers go "Woah, wasn't this alluded to way back X chapter ago?"

It can also lead to side-plots or events occurring that while they may seem random, were actually hinted in some way just by hearing someone say "The storms were horrible in X. Dunno about you, but I never thought it was a natural phenomenon." So when the twist of the storm actually not being a natural cause arrives it feels a little more natural.

There could be other people who believe the storm to be something else, expressing it through dialogue. The MC can catch onto this (or the reader) and figure out that there's something awry since there's so many discrepancies.

A long example:

Throughout the major arcs the MC hears about the storms. Later on they hear more about it, and maybe even find some object that can create electricity. Or, even uncovering that long ago there was a person who aspired to control the storms, but they're long dead.

MC then stumbles upon something that can prolong a person's life (Yay for the MC, but also has implications for other people who were thought to be dead).

So when the storm finally comes to the limelight it's not jarring since it was always being alluded to in the background of the story, and the readers finally get to witness an old legend in the flesh, probably controlling the storm with said electrical stones the MC found long ago.

End of example.

Doing this with people themselves also works wonders as a side plot. Just the mere mention of "I hate this." can become its own entire side plot throughout the story (maybe despises the world), but through exposure and travelling with the MC through each following arc we hear them progressively get more vibrant and positive, one day admitting "You know, maybe it's not so bad."

Sorry for the long write up! And I hope this helped!

 

[Jemini]

There are 2 things you need.

1. Time. A long-form story goes a long way toward the kind of set-up you need for what you're talking about, so it is definitely a lot more doable in webnovel format. Good for you that this is the exact format you chose to write in.

2. Planning. Now, planning is the tough point for web-novel writers, since web-novels have an outsized proportion of discovery writers in the mix. However, some moderate level of planning is essential for what you're talking about. You need to, at minimum, know what the end-game of your story is supposed to look like, have at least 3 or 4 major arcs planned even before you get anywhere near them, and also break your writing down into approximately 80K word blocks (about the size of the average novel) and know exactly where you want your story to end up by the time you finish that 80K block. (In my case, my chapters average around 2K words, so my aim is to know where I want to be in 40 chapters.)

I would also say getting some examples would be good. Of course, the diamond-tier example would be Ascendance of a Bookworm for this. The author of that series was insane! She actually plotted out a 32(+) book series in minute detail with an excellent outline, and her use of multiple plot-lines is also excellent.

She has the major seiries-long story plot of the revival of certain knowledge within the kingdom that I will avoid mentioning for spoiler reasons. There's also 5 smaller arcs, the 1st of which is Mein's struggle to survive the very disease that killed the original host of the body she's now inhabiting. Within that, is also her struggle to get ahold of books via re-inventing printing. Within that is her smaller stories of how she has to combat her own frail body in order to go out into the woods to gather materials, how she helps the people around her to inspire them to help her in return, how she goes through the merchants in order to get supplies, and then that dove-tails into the next arc of her merchant apprenticeship.

And that's just the 1st of the 5 major arcs! It all weaves beautifully together as well, in a manner that just makes it seem like a matter of course that all those events have to happen in that order in order to progress the story forward, and all of them manage to tell their own story while simultaneously moving the larger story forward. There is so much that every minor action within this series accomplishes, I actually cannot think of a single individual action in the series that doesn't have some form of impact or call-back sometime later down the line in the story. It's really THAT meticulous despite it's outrageous length.

I would definitely recommend giving bookworm a try if you want an excellent example of what you're looking for.

 

[YourTrolling]

One way I can think of is making a very complex problem that the main character can’t solve alone. Because of this, the problem would have to be split into multiple different problems. So you’d have to introduce multiple main characters that are Allie’s but have to separate. Example: there is something going on that could destroy the planet. There are some people who can benifit from it being destroyed while other just want to destroy it out of spite. In this situation you could have one mc go through the route of stopping the people who want to destroy out of spite while the others try to figure out the deal with the people who’d benefit from it. The idea here is to make separate problems that connect in some kind of way. Then use the connection to weave an epic conclusion that’s cohesive. If you want to make an even more interesting plot then you can make the two problems feel like they don’t connect but slowly starting planting seeds that’ll foreshadow their connection later on in the story.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I like a story with multiple plot lines and lots of different routes to explore. It’s like I’m really living inside a whole new world with lots of different stories within. It kind of makes things more… real, somehow.

I know about the story arc and such, but I’m not talking about that here. I’m talking about the the many plot lines underlying these story arcs. For example, while the mc is in the arc of saving his companions from captives, that’s the main arc at the time. But then there would be something sprinkling along the way, like some seeds that would be explored and revealed later on in the different arc.

What I’m asking here is, how do you plan all of that? Are there any specific steps you take? How do you weave it all in together and make one complex yet cohesive whole? Please, share. Thanks in advance~

You could tie it together with a regression ability. but planning it is something that I'd just wing it with.

 

[Daitengu]

Planning is the main point imo. There's always something else going on in the world that's not immediately happening to the mc.

What you'll have to do is similar to a D&D dm creating cities and social groups with characters that have goals and work in the background.

What you end up with is a notebook of the rough outline of various people in different levels of society and locations that you can reference for plot hooks and foreshadowing. You very well may not use all of it either as the mc grows or moves around.

Examples would be Duncan Idaho in Dune being a minor character at first but later became the main. Or in the Lord of the Rings Tolkien created a whole history for Sauron and the ring that never made it to the main books.

 

[Love4NovelGuy]

I like a story with multiple plot lines and lots of different routes to explore. It’s like I’m really living inside a whole new world with lots of different stories within. It kind of makes things more… real, somehow.

I know about the story arc and such, but I’m not talking about that here. I’m talking about the the many plot lines underlying these story arcs. For example, while the mc is in the arc of saving his companions from captives, that’s the main arc at the time. But then there would be something sprinkling along the way, like some seeds that would be explored and revealed later on in the different arc.

What I’m asking here is, how do you plan all of that? Are there any specific steps you take? How do you weave it all in together and make one complex yet cohesive whole? Please, share. Thanks in advance~

Think of it like a game. To advance the main storyline the protagonist needs to fulfil certain conditions. The only problem is that he doesn’t know what all of them are in the beginning.

sprinkle in foreshadowing of a problem that needs solving in the main storyline, and show how the protagonist can’t brute force his way through it. Have him fail and lose at times,

Maybe his level isn’t high enough, maybe his lack of a skill causes him to have to use a mix of different solutions he’d used before. Etc

 

[LilRora]

The way I'm doing it is that I add some mysterious or suspicious elements in the arc I'm writing, and then think how I can develop them to match the current story. They are mostly plot-relevant, but not necessarily, and I don't develop them immediately.

For instance, in one of the stories I am writing, I added a character that is suspected of doing something. She didn't actually take part in any scene (she was mentioned as a person some diviner saw), and I don't know if she will, but I might use her to develop some plot when I'm done with what I'm writing currently. If not, then that's fine as well - it becomes an additional detail in the story, and a mystery element.

One thing I absolutely never do is planning the whole extensive plot beforehand, because it's a short way to getting bored with the story and losing motivation to write.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Use condom!

 

[Western42]

If you are talking about a story with no set MC, instead having many different characters, then I can help you with that since I wrote a story just like that.

The first thing to do is to make each main character unique. Make it so the reader would recognize which point of view they are reading from just the few sentences alone. Next is to make each main character unique and different from each other. What I did was have each character have their own unique way of talking and thinking, as well as having their own unique goal separate from each other.

 

[Tsuru]

Try looking at some old jp webnovels
Arifureta, one of the early jp webnovels where MC get betrayed among the class
(just like Mushoku tensei, the anime adaptation took forever and only appeared recently, but they are truly very old series)

To be honest, the biggest tip i can give you "get someone to test-read your series" / "keep a mentality of being a reader"

Because some recent chinese webnovels are good simply because they are readers that grew up and wrote what readers wants. Because just like other readers, they know what "we(readers)" want. Especially anti-routine where the MC don't follow the "routine/cliche" of old bullshit series.
This logic also fit in game industry. Lot of AAA games etc, fail because the devs are not gamers or simply employees controlled by non-gamers capitalists. Indie games "HADES" and smaller "The ascent" succeeded despite not lot of staff, because they know what they are doing.

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

I get what you're saying and it's what I wanted to be encompassed in my book Let's Imagine A Female Knight.

Honestly, all you have to do is make characters who make realistic decisions based on who they are and what they want accomplished. That way, perhaps what they do can provoke the story in a different direction or maybe it doesn't have to at all. In my opinion, the best anti-heroes and villains don't act relatively to the main cast and do their own thing; Aizen from Bleach is a good example of this.

If you make a believable world with equally interesting and believable characters new stories and plots will unfold themselves before you.

 

[The_3rd_Book]

A recipe that fits your needs!

Ingredients:
THREE Quills from a historical diary
ONE aged Eyed of Third Person
VARYING AMOUNTS OF Eye of First Person
ONE Aged parchment or coffee, flawless printing paper, and a pinch of Dust of Dehydration (FOR EACH PAGE)
ONE Dramatic leather binding
ONE spool of tough string.

Heat up your cauldron to 212F° and wait for it to boil. Then drop the quills in at the same time. After that add the Eye of Third Person, and a teaspoon of powered Eyes of First Person for each named character. Proceed to stir thoroughly until it turns a inky black. If you don't have aged parchment set a flawless piece of printing paper in a baking tray and douse it in coffee. Sprinkle the Dust of Dehydration onto the pan to quickly dry out the paper and that will work too. Do this for each page needed. After that you'll need to attach the leather binding to the pages. I recommend used Andromeda Spider Silk to do this. After this is done drop the book into the mixture, and it should absorb the ink. Let it set for 15 mins and you'll have a multi-faceted, relatable story.

 

[gaylolis]

I will try my best to remain a mob character

In most stories, reincarnators have the story revolve around them whether they want to or not. This always happen despite saying “Nooo~ I’ll stay away from the story~~” That is, ultimately, because they’re DUMB. How do you expect to escape from the story while you generously sink your...

www.scribblehub.com

i kinda followed something similar to this, just make the protagonist some sort of bystander who knew the 'main plot' through indirect means (like the news) and just mostly experiencing the world at their own pace.

for example, if the kingdom's at war, he didn't directly involve themselves but took refugee somewhere safe, and heard the war's developments through common means like word of mouth.

Top Tier Providence, Secretly Cultivate for a Thousand Years - Novel Updates

www.novelupdates.com

this is kinda like it as well

though it's mostly my bias since i don't like my main character to take part in too much hassle. even if the world breaks apart, someone else beside the MC can take care of it, they just need to live the best they can, for themselves alone.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

An idea to help is to think of normal life. I mean, on the journey of making your coffee or tea in the morning, you could turn on the kettle and then go off and do something else while it's heating up. It's the usual multitask type of thing. Just look at your normal life and how many 'openings' you leave by doing more then one thing at a time. Just one mistake or one extra 'job' or helping someone can lead to another 'plot line'.
If you want to add something in, a little drop of water, add it in at a good time and make it a river or lake later. Sometimes your own characters will help you drop these droplets, as it just could be who they are. For instance, a dense character could completely miss someone's feelings (which could be your extra), or a angry character could hit something that actually broke something but they didn't know it (which could be the extra). Sometimes it can be a scenery thing too, like add it to the landscape. Perhaps make it look 'natural' at first.
I like to find something basic to stick them together, something real and natural looking. It's ok to use the obvious, well in my opinion. Just don't forget, it's your story, it's not like you can't go back to change it to something better later (rewrite it).
I hope I helped your question in some detail.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

This advice will probably not be helpful at all because I can't seem to stop the growing plot points. I started with 3 plots in 1 that included a side plot, main plot, and an overarching plot. This sort of grew into a large amount of plots. That are all tangled like a spiderweb.

Anyways, my advice would be to start with a 3 or 4 in 1 plot and every time you add in a piece of world building to your story such as lore, remember it or write it down. Then whenever you run out of plots to keep your characters busy, look over your world building and see if anything could be expanded upon for plot purposes.

 

[J_Chemist]

Carefully.