If the Relationship is the Primary Plot (A Story), What is the Secondary (B Story)?

As I've talked about several times on here, most stories are made up of three different dominating plotlines, and most commonly, they are these: 

External--this is the character's outer journey. The character has a concrete goal, encounters an external antagonist, and struggles with the conflict to get the goal.

Internal--this is the character's inner journey. The character has an abstract want, and in pursuing that, completes a character arc. The antagonist is the self.

Relationship--this is a relationship journey. The character either aims to draw close to or increase distance from another person (or maintain the relationship as is). The antagonistic force is what is upsetting that. How it is resolved completes a relationship arc.

In the writing community (specifically in screenwriting), typically the external and internal weave together to make up what people call the "A Story." The A Story is seen as the primary plot.

The B Story is the secondary plot. It's most commonly a relationship. In fact, it's so commonly a relationship, that the term often gets used to mean a relationship plot, but in reality, not all B Stories are relationship stories.

Like the B Story, I have some qualms about the term "A Story," since not every book and film has an internal plotline.

And as this post suggests, in reality, the A Story isn't always the external plotline either. Yes, it almost always is, but not always.

Sometimes the relationship plotline is the A Story.

Sometimes the relationship arc is the primary plot.

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What is a B Story? 6 Key Qualities of B Stories

A "B Story" is a secondary plotline that unfolds, more or less, alongside the "A Story," the primary plotline. Lately, I've been thinking about B Stories more and wishing there were more resources on them. So I decided to help out by putting together this article on the six key qualities a B Story should have--things I wished I'd understood earlier in my writing journey. 

But first, we need to make our usual pit stop to talk about definitions--because (somewhat ironically) these tend to be a little ambiguous in the writing community.

The A Story is the primary plotline--this definitely includes the struggle between the protagonist and antagonist, which means it's the biggest, most predominant conflict. Many people break down the protagonist's journey into an inner journey and an outer journey. While I consider these two different types of plotlines, they usually weave together to make up what many consider the A Story. This means that typically the A Story is made up of the biggest external conflict and the most intimate internal conflict. 

The B Story is the secondary plotline. Many argue that the B Story must be a relationship plotline--this is almost always between the protagonist and the Influence Character. I personally feel it doesn't have to be. It's simply the secondary plot. But if it isn't a relationship plotline, there will still usually be a relationship plotline somewhere in the narrative arc.

These arguments for whether or not the B Story must be the relationship plotline may be more about how writers slice and dice stories and define their elements. It may be more of a matter of perspective, than anything.

Sometimes the term "B Plot" is used instead of "B Story."

So what makes a B Story work? Here are some qualities to keep in mind (while also acknowledging, there is always room for exceptions).

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