Know what inspires you; keep being inspired!
Enjoy books in depth and not just a scan.
Good authors’ works should help keep you fired
Up ready to produce your own great work.
Reading well is part of a writer’s perk!
Also it prepares you hopefully for later on when interviewers ask what authors inspired you and why! You have to know what you like to be able to write well yourself. Also part of writing has to come from your genuine love of books and how else can you love them unless you read them? I also find non-fiction books (in my case history especially) helpful in giving me ideas for fleshing out my Fairy Kingdom government structure.
When it comes to your novel’s sub-plots
Do they grip? Do they thrill? Do they add
To the overall story with lots
Of relevant details, good and bad,
Fleshing out your villains and heroes?
Do sub-plots improve your deathless prose?
A good sub-plot (or more if appropriate) adds depth to your novel, brings in memorable though secondary characters and can make the whole story feel more real given that in life sub-plots happen all the time. We all handle more than one situation at a time, more than one other person and so on so a sub-plot can reflect some of this though the crucial thing is to make sure it is relevant. If a sub-plot doesn’t add to your story, then there’s no place for it.