Which plot should I use while outlining my plot beats?

Question

I'm writing a crime/mystery fiction novel.

The main plot involves a murder at the start, a case that my protagonist, a police detective, has to solve. He faces conflict and difficulties along the way, until solving who did it and making an arrest. At the inciting incident, he discovers that the homicide victim (who was a family friend) had in his possession an item that belonged to the detective's wife, who mysteriously died five years earlier.

Running alongside this main plot is the subplot linked to his wife. This subplot influences his character arc through the story. His wife was presumed to have drowned five years earlier, and after several years missing, 'death in absentia' was declared for her. He refuses to accept her death, as a body was never found. Relations had been excellent between them, though, and he knows she wouldn't have voluntarily disappeared like that. With her case unsolved, it went cold. The last person with her on the day she disappeared was the family friend, the new homicide victim. The detective always believed the family friend had something to do with her disappearance, but there was no proof, no evidence linking him to her death. The item found on the new victim forces the detective to reinvestigate her case alongside that case.

For the detective, solving his wife's disappearance (subplot?) has higher importance than the current case as it would allow him some closure and a chance to move on with his life. The homicide of family friend, however, is the main plot running from the beginning to the end and, I think I'm right in saying, would typically be assigned to the following plot points:

Inciting Incident / First Plot Point / First Pinch Point / Mid-Point / Second Pinch Point / Third Plot Point / Climatic Moment / Resolution

The hook at the beginning will be the homicide of the family friend.

Although the events of his wife's death happened as backstory, with my Protagonist having such a strong connection to this subplot, I'm wondering if I should assign that to these plot beats/points instead and using that as the force driving him forward at each stage?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

Answer 1

Firstly, I think your concept sounds very intriguing.

In answer to your question, I would recommend the 'present' plot should be your main plot, and the missing wife should be the subplot.

Although the subplot might be more highly emotional, it's still in the past and the actions driving things forward will still be the recent murder, as that's what your detective is having to act on.

However, your subplot can still be very strong, 'sub' doesn't have to mean 'minor' or 'unimportant'. It can be just a little step behind the main plot.

But for the purposes of deciding which one to focus your beats on, I would go with the recent murder.

There's a plot template here you might find useful: https://www.novel-software.com/CMS/FILES/Plot%20Outlines/MysteryCrimeThrillerPlotOutline.pdf

Disclosure - we made this plot outline.

Answer 2

I think that the two plot lines must be related if the novel, taken as a unit, is to make sense to the reader. But "related" could mean many different things.

The question does not provide much in the way of context about the disappearance of the detective's wife. Was the marriage happy or not before the disappearance? Was it possible that the wife's departure was voluntary? Does the detective have feelings of guilt or failure regarding his behavior related to the disappearance? To simplify my answer, I am going to assume that the couple fought repeatedly, her disappearance was messy (maybe it was voluntary and maybe it was not), and that the detective is conflicted about his role in all of this.

Given these assumptions, the most obvious way of relating the two plot lines is to have them be parallel. In that case, the parallel case could have have a similar departure but one followed by the discovery of the murdered body of the genre plot. The questions that the detective must answer in the genre plot could also be questions that could have (or should have) been answered for his wife's disappearance. Step by step, he is forced to confront the issues which he has been avoiding about the disappearance.

The relationship between the two plots could also involve similar themes, locations, people who knew some or all of the players in the two plots, and so on. It could also involve differences. For example, the two crimes (or a specific aspect of them) are similar in almost all respects except for this little detail that should not matter but we all know by the end of the book will be the key clue.

Regardless of how you relate the two plots, the trick is to avoid being too on-the-nose with the comparisons. Perhaps, the two plots are comparable only at specific points while most of the plots are noise to keep the readers (at least partially) in the dark. Perhaps, the two plots take place in different cultures that mirror each other; where one is light the other is dark; where one gives power to this class/group/sect the other denies it.

Obviously, the two plots complicates the writing but there can be rewards.

Answer 3

This a fun story. The central conflict is "what did the murdered friend have to do with the wife's disappearance?" and, really, the present murder is the subplot that is an obstacle to the resolution of that real central conflict. Regardless, plots and subplots normally feature all or nearly all the usual beats, otherwise the subplot is really just an obstacle in the main plot.

Typically, these sorts of stories are resolved by the solution to the immediate crime producing the solution to the past crime, which is quite satisfying but can feel contrived. Other times, the present case is resolved relatively quickly, but clues to the larger conflict lead the hero into uncharted territory (the wife's secret past or affair, for example).

Ideally, you would at least get the two plots out of sync so that progress in one produces or coincides with a new obstacle in the other. One advantage to this approach is that neither plot needs to be perfect; they complement and complicate each other. Good luck!