subplotting

Verb

subplot (third-person singular simple present subplots, present participle subplotting, simple past and past participle subplotted)

1. (transitive) To provide (a story) with a subplot.
   • In the pictures of places, too, an author uses economy; and for his plot, complicated and subplotted as it may seem, he cannot count on having vast stretches of eternity in which to elaborate forever.1965, Percival Hunt, The Gift of the Unicorn: Essays on Writing, page 70

See all 3 meanings of subplot