When do you have too many plot arcs?

Question

I have a story which could fit nearly any genre and still be engaging, and often times the back cover synopsis likes to brag about multiple elements, like "It has suspense, drama, rib-splitting humor, and wild action!" all together. Let's say you have all that, and to pull it off you are weaving together many plot arcs. Family drama, government conspiracies, hidden agendas, tragic losses, blazing gunfights, comic mishaps, etc. We'll call it "life, completely told."

I would assume this needs to be kept on track by not also shifting character focus around, but that is a guess honestly. Is there a golden rule for making engaging stories with complex interwoven arcs—that remain engaging to people who aren't chess masters? (That last bit is in there because I am frequently told to dumb things down)

Answer 1

Most stories with multiple arcs, timelines, POVs, etc that are successful use the theme as a binding agent. I.e. they explore the same theme.

That theme can sometimes translate into a more direct message, and the different threads and arcs will convey that message in different forms.

But there are also stories that may not even have a common theme or message.

The unsatisfying answer is that if it works, it works.

To know what works take experience, good beta readers, editors, publishers, and so on. And sometimes even then the book will be a flop.

It's always a risk-taking venture to write a book and there are no guarantees that it will work even though it should, just as we've seen many times that there's no guarantee that things that "shouldn't work" will fail...