I'm particularly interested in this in the context of a new novelist. Are subplots necessary for a successful, good story? Do most novels have them? I'm not sure I fully understand how to write a subplot and the main plot and have them all be pertinent to the ending. I don't want to write a subplot just for the sake of saying I have one.
Answer
Do you have two characters who talk to each other about something other than the main plot of your story? If so, you have something to build a subplot on. If you don't, is your plot so all encompassing that two people in that situation would never talk about anything else? Have your characters all known each other for a long time? Wouldn't they then already have a relationship built up outside of the main plot and those relationships can be part of a subplot. If your characters have all just met, they are coming together in a tense situation and will want to know something about each other (such as, "will I be able to trust him at my back when we are in a tight situation?"). Don't think of subplots as just ways to make the book longer. You are developing character and adding texture to what is happening, perhaps, if you want, even giving you something that will lead to a sequel.
This is all just my opinion, but the one novel I wrote and finished sucked, in part because I had no subplots.
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