Confused in the World of Stories

[Addison]

Hello everyone.

I've just finished the 3rd draft of my story and I've hit a speed bump. It's several story lines and they're all combining in to one story...mostly. It's like a soap opera. Actually a better example would be Once Upon a Time. They have the story of what's going on in Storybrooke, in the Fairy Tale world and in Fairy Tale world's past. All of which combined into one story.
I have a story that's like that but it's.....it doesn't feel like it's really intertwining as well as it should.
Reviewing the story it's one main story, a core story, and a few other stories wrapping with it. But it's like those other strands are just hanging around the core but not sticking to it.

The core story is a young man's application, studies and conflicts at a school for magic users. The surrounding stories are: college graduates moving into a house and adjusting to keeping their magic under control. The true monsters in the criminal world. And the last is a story following mortals and how they live among the magical.
What can I do, or how, can I make these strands stick to the core?

 

[ThinkerX]

Hmmm...not a lot to go on. Still:

1) CORE - young mans experiences at a school for magic users. Fairly obvious. This part of the overall tale revolves around HIM.

2) SECONDARY? - College graduates moving into a house, attempting to keep magic under control.
Is one of these graduates the same person as in 1? Does this story take place before or after 1? Or at the same time?

3) SECONDARY? - True monsters in the criminal world.
Again, did one or more of these monsters attend the school in 1? And does this storyline take place before or after the tale in 1?

4) SECONDARY? - Mortals among the magical.
Same questions as before.

It sounds like you have a core group in the main storyline (1) with the other storylines describing what happened afterwards or before.

 

[MadMadys]

Like Thinker said, not a lot to go on but I'll try and see if I can help.

So is the problem that the 'Core' and ancillary stories aren't coming together at the end in a believable fashion or do they just overall seem too distant from what you intended?

Somethings you'll have to ask yourself, these all being general, is what importance the side stories have to your main plot. Are they required? I know it may seem drastic but you might have to consider chopping off excess if it's only hanging there. If you read it, as the author, and think it doesn't work then you can be sure the reader will think the same. Another option would be, if you don't want to lose the secondary parts completely, you could attempt to trim down or minimize them. They could add flavor and perspective to your main story, as I would assume they are intended to do, but in their smaller form don't have the same weight placed upon them that causes them to crack under scrutiny.

If you can provide a bit more insight I could probably tailor a less general response for you but I hope this helps at least somewhat!

 

[Penpilot]

Handling multiple plot threads can be tricky. The way I handle them is first and foremost the secondary threads must support the main thread otherwise they don't belong in the story. What I mean by this is, for example, the hero learns something in the secondary thread that helps them in achieving victory in the main thread. OR They make a friend in the secondary thread that comes along to help them in winning the day. I'd suggest watching one of your favorite movies. Identify the secondary story and see how it supports the main story.

Second, it's about having plot points from two or more threads happen at the same time in the same scene. Have them butt up against one another and tug at the character(s), pulling them in different directions.

This is the way I mentally lay this out. Let's say there are three plot threads in a story, the main one and two secondary ones. Now, let's say the Main-Plot has major plot points A, B, and C. Plot 2 has major plot points D, E, and F. Plot 3 has major plot points G, H, and I. As the story unfolds have the multiple threads happen temporally like this crude chart below. Notice how the different plot points from the three different threads line up with some points coinciding with others? That's how everything gets wrapped together. Obviously this is simplified but it illustrates how to think about things.

Story Time----------------------------------------->

Major Plot------A--------------------B-----------C

Plot 2-----------------D--------------E-----------F

Plot3-----------G-----H--------------I

 

[Addison]

Thank you all for the responses.

Alright, all the stories, boy in school, grads and all that, they're all revolving around people in the same city. No idea what to name the city yet but they're all in the same setting.

ThinkerX made some points which I really thought about. Yes, the boy discovering magic and school is the core story and along the way to the climax of his story he meets the other story strands. The third (mortals living in the magical world) is about his family. The second is about the adults who work in the same building where he works as a mail clerk (although I might change it to errand runner or something) and the first exterior story about the graduates is about the community in which he lives. So it's basically several different stories to cover all the bases of the world in which the characters live.
The second and third stories I don't have any problem tying to the main story. It's the first, the graduates, which is giving me some trouble. How can I tie them in?

 

[ThinkerX]

Ok, then, a bit more to work with.

The primary story revolves around a young man attending 'magic school'.

The part giving you fits is connecting that with the 'graduates'.

Lets see:

1) Presumably some of the teachers at the magic school taught both the MC AND the graduates. Now and again, the teacher(s) could refer to one or another of the graduates.

2) You mentioned something about making your MC a mail clerk or errand boy. Have some of his deliveries go to the place where the graduates are setting up housekeeping.

3) Community Service: your MC and one of the graduates both volunteer for the same soup kitchen or what not.

4) The big party: the graduates throw a big celebration. Word makes it back to the school, and some of the students, MC included decide to try to sneak in.

5) Cousins: one of the graduates is a second cousin, inlaw, or other distant relative of the MC...or maybe one of the MC's friends at school. (I have more of these distant relations than I can keep track of.)

6) Friends in common: one of the graduates and the MC share a common mundane friend.

7) Accident! - Fenderbender type deal between the MC and one of the graduates, or one of the graduates has a traffic accident because of something the MC does.

 

[Addison]

THANK YOU THINKERX!!!

.....uh, is this sounding like it's turning into a soap opera. Or will it not matter as long as I keep the focus on the core story?

 

[Addison]

Okay, new idea. (Same topic though) What if it's different stories set in the same world? Originally the story centered around boy at school but I added these other story lines because the original felt incomplete. But what if the boy at school was its own book and the graduates, the demons at work and other stuff was a different story?