Writing Tips & Guidance

Example: Subplot, Eren Yeager VS Percy Jackson

Spoiler Warning for the anime Attack on Titan and the book The Lightning Thief  in the Percy Jackson series. We'll be ignoring the Percy Jackson films.

The Power of the First Subplot

To give a quick summary of the first Percy Jackson subplot, Percy finds out he is a demigod then decides to find out who his dad is. He finds out his father is Poseidon really early in the book then moves on to the main plot. Seems pretty simple, but it is really quite genius because the readers get to experience those first major discoveries WITH Percy. It makes his decisions more relatable and his shortcomings more understandable.

In Attack on Titan, a similar beginning subplot is presented. Eren is told that the key on his neck, the key to his father's study basement, can get him answers to why he turns into a giant cannibal monster. Maybe he can even get answers about why the world is overrun with giant cannibal monsters. However, that opening chance for a subplot is imploded when the show decides to never mention the key again. They abandon the side quest and instead just kind of die pointlessly, without a goal.

Imagine if Percy went on the whole quest and never once found out that his father was Poseidon. Like, he just never wondered and no one ever brought it up. Seems weird, huh?

The mystery set up in the beginning subplot can also be subverted. Percy's father could have been revealed to be Oceanus, the Titan. The basement study unlocked by the key could have started a treasure hunt instead of offering complete information, leading them down the path of discovery instead of offering every answer at once.

Subplots are incredibly valuable to a story, allowing characters to develop and the plot to thicken. The point of these early subplots in stories is generally to establish something the character or characters didn't know before, obtain an item they didn't have, set up character relationships, reveal the villain, or reveal the main plot in an extravagant manner (red string and all). This allows the audience to share in the revelation and learn alongside the character.

- Learning alongside Percy is the basic premise of his whole character. He's a bit of a dork and doesn't know much about Greek stuff, mainly so that the readers get it explained to them along the way. It works because Percy is like this the whole time and not just when the author, Rick, wants to exposition to the readers. He grows and all that, but he grows on you more.

- Eren is nothing like that. Viewers don't learn from watching Eren. Almost nothing about the world or situation is revealed, there is no discovery or even exposition. The supposedly gripping premise that anyone could die at any time is also why Eren and the others never really grow on the audience. Any one of them could die as a stunt and leave the plot missing another key that wasn't discussed. Because of that, none of the characters really change or grow in any way. Their world is dark. Their outlook is dark. They all die. It's a waste of beautiful art direction, because the show is pretty.

Why is there such a different level of empathy for these characters? Subplot allows the reader to become attached to a character, setting, world, and theme. The lack of and abandonment of subplots in Attack on Titan makes attachment unlikely.

Too much subplot over complicates a story and not enough makes it bland. Not having it at all means readers and viewers won't care (regardless of how pretty the art direction is). Learning to balance plot and subplot as the beautiful dance that it is? Now that's an art. Now you're making literature.

The lesson to learn, dear writers, is to not set up a subplot (or plot, gods forbid) without resolving it in some manner. Don't abandon the plots.

That's it. That's the tea.