#filler scenes

[writerpolls]

Writers: do you enjoy writing “filler” scenes that explore your characters / world / setting without moving the plot forward?

Yes, I absolutely love writing those “filler” scenes!

Yes, I enjoy them

Sometimes, depends on the scene

No, I generally don’t

No, I always want to move forward the plot somehow in every scene

Other answer / it’s complicated / unsure

See results / I don’t write

Voting ended onJan 23

[elian-quill]

As writers, we like the most interesting scenes: the ones with all the action, the murders, the plot twists, and the tragedies. However, there are other types of scenes that we don't give enough credit to: filler scenes. It might be the most annoying part of writing because they might not be important to the plot or interesting to write, but trust me, they are important in their own way. And if you give filler scenes a chance, they might surprise you. If, like me, you are having trouble writing them, there are 7 ways I use to make writing filler scenes bearable.

Filler Scenes: Their Importance and 7 Ways to Enjoy Writing Them

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

Hi. I hate filler scenes, they drive me up the wall BUT i'm currently drafting one of my stories and notice that it needs a filler scene. Do you have any advice on how to make filler scenes feel less like they are a waste of words and feel more like they belong in the story?

How to Fix Your Filler Scenes

The primary reason a scene would be considered "filler" was if it offered no contribution whatsoever to plot, worldbuilding, or character development within the narrative. Filler takes up space, can make the pacing drag, and often adds quantity but not quality to your story.

It’s often seen as a setback to have any number of 100% filler scenes in your work, especially if you plan on publishing traditionally and need to keep your word count down.

However, a lot of people rely heavily on filler to provide a segue into the next part of their story and keep the pacing steady, so in that case, how do you make these filler scenes worthwhile?

Here are some ways to fix your filler scenes to make them meaningful (and essential) to the story!

1. Make it About The Characters and Their Relationships

A good way to make a scene not filler is if you use it to help develop your characters or the relationships between them.

Maybe you can use this time to make your protagonist and their love interest grow closer, or maybe you can use it to reveal some backstory that you weren't sure where to piece into the narrative beforehand.

Maybe your protagonist has a revelation about themselves or about the others in their group, whether through a meaningful conversation or by observing their behavior.

This could be a good time to show how your characters view the world around them, having philosophical conversation about love or death or anything in between, or to show them changing their views based on their experiences and the experiences of others.

All in all, if you make your scene an important aspect of your story when it comes to character development, then it's not filler at all, and will serve the story well in not only connecting two important events, but also allowing the reader to learn more about the people they've invested in.

2. Make it About the Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding is an important part of any story, especially in high fantasy and Sci-Fi. If you need to take a break from your plot in order to make sure things aren’t going by too fast, perhaps take some time to develop the world that your characters live in. 

Now, I’m not saying to use this time to infodump everything there is about your character’s world, but instead show it off in a beautiful and poignant scene that can be coupled with character development. 

It’s the night before a big event. The lovers sneak out of the motel to enjoy a drink at the bar at the far edge of the intergalactic satellite they’ve docked at to refuel. Perhaps while drunk, one of the characters reveals something about their past they’d meant to keep hidden?

A character takes their foreign friend shopping in a bazaar unlike anything you’ve ever scene before. Perhaps they find an item of interest there that helps them along their journey?

These scenarios make sure that the “filler” is actually an important aspect of the story that would actually take away from the overall quality if it were removed. 

3. Make it About Suspense

It's night. The sun is going down. The fire crackles and sputters.

Tomorrow, the characters will be off to battle. They know that they might be sitting in a room with people who will be dead by the following evening. They wonder if this will be the last time they see each other alive, if this will be the last conversations they ever have while they're all in one piece.

Suspense is a great way to make your filler scene important, building up the tension leading up to the next scene. Of course, this scene can only be used to segue into a very, very integral moment in the story, perhaps even the climax, so use it wisely.

Suspenseful scenes often benefit from an interesting setting and high-tension description and dialogue, and can also be paired with character development to show how your protagonists react in the face of fear.

4. Understand that Sometimes Cutting the Scene May Be For the Best

Sometimes, things just don't work out with the above ideas. Perhaps it's too late in the story to develop characters or worldbuilding, or maybe the subsequent event isn't important enough to prompt an entire scene dedicated to suspense.

In that case, it's probably best to just cut the filler scene. To keep from the timeskip being weird, have the event you want to segue into be at the beginning of a new chapter, or maybe re-work the narrative so that it weaves together more easily.

It'll be difficult to do this, especially if you've grown attached to what you've written, but I promise it'll work out all the better in the end; each aspect of the story is supposed to mean something, and I wouldn’t want you to put in all that effort and time into crafting a scene that, in the end, doesn’t really do much for the narrative.

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

[naavispider]

Chapter 28 - If you playing me that mean my home aint home

The flight took less than 5 minutes from the boat to the shore, and in that time Spider had taken 102 breaths and Quaritch had informed him of the key details of the upcoming raid. Spider appreciated at least having a rough idea of the plan this time. 

“If the Olo’eyktan refuses to talk, we threaten the Tsahik, just like last time. But if there’s someone younger, more vulnerable, expect them to get caught up in it as well,” Quaritch warned. 

“Kids?” Spider asked, the alarming thought crossing his mind suddenly.

“We’ll only threaten,” Quaritch answered. 

Spider shook his head in disbelief at the RDA’s cruelty. “Shit.”

They landed on the beach just as they had that morning, only now the clouds were darkening overhead. It would be dusk soon. 

Spider leapt off without waiting for Quaritch, landing agilely in the sand and standing up to a sight of complete deja vu. 

They made their way forwards, right into the heart of the village it seemed. Soldiers had already been in and corralled most of the onlooking Ta’unui. They were being held back by a cordon of armed marines carrying raised rifles and flamethrowers. The humans were having to fire regular warning shots to keep the villagers at bay, and as Spider and the recoms passed them, a couple broke free from the line, about to attack, before being jabbed by the electric rods that Spider had first seen yesterday. When the Ta’unui man was struck by the baton his whole body convulsed and spasmed as he fell to the floor, screaming. 

Spider gasped, tears welling in his eyes. Fuck. 

The Olo’eyktan and Tsahik were waiting for them near one of the shelters that rested near a mangrove. They were bound and kneeling, just as the pair from the morning had been. 

“<Take them out!>” the Olo’eyktan was crying, and to Spider’s horror, he caught sight of what the man was referring to. 

Crying at the back of the shelter were two Ta’unui children, who couldn’t be older than four or five. To Spider, they looked like twins. Their faces were certainly an exact mirror of terror and fright when the recom squad walked in. Spider’s heart plunged to the floor. 

“Shut up!” a human with a stun gun yelled fiercely at the man in response. 

“ Mawey ,” Spider called over to the kids. His voice broke. “<Be still, everything will be alright.>” He tried to sound confident, but he thought it just came out desperate. 

All eyes turned to him as he addressed the children, and their small eyes peered up at him in fear and confusion when they realised this alien could talk to them. 

Catching on, their parents capitalised on this quickly.

“<Please! Please take the children out! Don’t hurt them, we’ll do anything you ask!>” The Tsahik addressed Spider directly, and he was so shocked to be spoken to as if he was the one in charge, that he momentarily forgot how to speak. 

“<It will be okay,>” Quaritch allowed Spider to continue. “<These people just want to ask you something,>” he glanced towards Quaritch, who seemed to take that as a cue to begin the interrogation. 

“Jake Sully. Toruk Makto. <Where is he?>” Quaritch started, as Wainfleet passed him the screen showing Jake’s face. 

The leaders’ eyes widened. “<We don’t know!>” the Tsahik replied. “<Please, you have wasted your time. We have never seen him before!>”

At Quaritch’s look, Spider translated. “They haven’t seen him. We’ve come to the wrong village.”

“Nope,” Quaritch replied confidently. “I think they just don’t understand.” The man crouched down, so he was at eye level with the kneeling Olo’eyktan. “Look,” he began again. His voice seeped with feigned sympathy. “<I don’t want to hurt you. We don’t want to hurt you. But. We need the information. When you tell us, we leave.>”

Ordinarily Spider would have been impressed with the level of Na’vi that Quaritch was able to use now, but his gaze was trained on the cowering children at the back. They were a boy and a girl, clinging to each other. Two humans stood over them, electric rods raised and ready to strike if they moved. 

“Tell him as soon as they tell us, we leave.”

Spider was brought back to the clan leaders’ attention as he closed his eyes to translate the words. 

“<We do not know!>” the Olo’eyktan repeated, as the woman beside him wept. 

Spider looked at Quaritch despairingly, pleading with his eyes for them to back off now. 

“Hmm.” Quaritch was quiet. He was considering something. 

The whole assembly held their breath. 

“Bring me one of the tykes,” he told one of the soldiers guarding the kids. 

No.

“ Kehe! ” The parents wailed as the soldier standing nearest to them began to reach for the little girl. 

Lots of things happened at once. Mansk and Savine moved closer to hold the clan leaders down as they struggled to break free. Wainfleet and Fike quickly backed them up, ensuring the Olo’eyktan and Tsahik were firmly pressed against the floor. Spider lunged forward, pushing over the human who had grabbed the Na’vi girl. He hissed as he pushed the child behind him. The other human immediately moved to overpower Spider, brandishing the electric rod, sparks flying. The sound sent cackles through the air, and Spider’s eyes widened. That shit looked painful. 

“Shit!” he exclaimed, now finding himself in a stand-off between the human marines and the Na’vi children. He had no weapon, just his bare hands, which were held aloft in front of him against the soldiers. 

“Okay.” Quaritch held his hand out to calm the situation. “Let’s everybody just take it down a notch.”

“No one touches the kids,” Spider announced firmly, not taking his eyes off the soldiers in front of him. 

The rest of the recom team were too occupied keeping the Olo’eyktan and Tsahik on the floor. He had the upper hand. 

“<It will be okay,>” Spider whispered behind him. 

“Alright, I hear you Spider, okay?” Why did Quaritch sound preoccupied? Something was wrong. 

Spider had realised a second too late. Fike had left the team holding down the Tsahik, and was standing right behind the kids, out of Spider’s line of sight. The man lunged for the little girl, grabbing her in one fluid motion as Spider spun around. 

“No!” he cried, pouncing forwards to protect, but something struck him from behind. Something cold. He had no idea he had been stunned until he hit the ground. 

His whole body seized up, he couldn’t move - he couldn’t breathe. His muscles spasmed and cramped agonisingly for seconds that lasted years. “Ahh!” he screamed, as soon as his body relaxed, crawling away from the source of the attack. “Fuck!” 

“That’s enough!” Quaritch roared, grabbing hold of the marine who had shocked Spider, and picking him up in both hands, completely lifting him off the ground before slamming him down to the floor with as much force as his powerful arms were capable of. But Quaritch wasn’t done. The Colonel picked the soldier up again, and this time threw him completely clear of the shelter. The man crumpled to the ground ten feet away on the sand, unmoving. 

Spider could do nothing except try and force shuddering breaths in while his body recovered. 

“Please, not the kids…” he begged. 

Quaritch looked him over, and Spider did his utmost to sit up, still gasping slightly. He hated the way the man’s eyes were filled with concern - soft around the edges and open, searching for signs of injury. Hypocrite . 

Quaritch seemed to decide something after a moment, because he moved away, back to the little girl struggling against the marine. 

“<Hello,>” he bent down to get as close to her eye level as possible. She was clearly terrified. “<My name is Quaritch. Your mother and father have been very bad. This man - Jake Sully, Toruk Makto, Olo’eyktan of the Omatikaya. Where is he? He is in this village?>”

“<Get away from her!>” growled the Tsahik. The Olo’eyktan let out a string of curses and threats, some of which were unintelligible even to Spider. 

The girl’s eyes overflowed with tears as she shook her tiny head, braids swinging. 

“You got what you want!” Spider called. “Now let her go!” he scrambled over to the little boy, and surprisingly no one stopped him. He touched the boy’s arm, trying to comfort, not wanting to scare him further. “<It will be okay, it will be okay.>”

The boy whimpered before him. 

Quaritch growled. “Move out!” he roared, once again commanding the burning of the village. 

Spider saw the little boy and girl returned to their parents once the recoms backed off, but had to turn his back as the sobs of the reunited family triggered something deep down in his bones. 

The squad moved out, only the one other human stopping to check on his fallen comrade. Spider didn’t hang back. 

As he followed Quaritch along the beach, he did his best to just not think about it. If he ignored the last half an hour, pretended it never happened, it couldn’t affect him, right?

So Spider cleared his mind and focused instead on putting one foot after the other. The sand was soft and more difficult of a texture to walk on. It didn’t help that his calves already felt like they were on fire, and his thighs burned with the effort to keep up. 

As they returned to the ikran, the smell of burning filled Spider’s mask like a poison from the flaming village, which was illuminating the now dark sky. He coughed, trying to clear the mask of it, but it was useless. 

Hopelessness bubbled up his throat, threatening to overcome him. But Spider was strong; he pushed it down forcefully. He would not break again. 

He reached Cupcake before he realised, stopping short. Quaritch came up behind and before he could react, had lifted him up with both hands onto the animal. 

“You alright kid? You hurt?” Quaritch asked once he was also mounted. 

Spider shook his head in response. 

What a lie.

Sadly for Spider, Quaritch attempted conversation as they flew back to the waiting ship. “You know, I never wanted you to get hurt.”

Spider ignored him. He couldn’t be bothered to entertain this. He’d been pushed, grabbed, drugged and shocked, all with only a couple of hours sleep the night before. It felt like years ago that he had asked Quaritch to stay in his room with him while he struggled to recover from that nightmare. Night terror , Quaritch had called it. Spider laughed a short, sarcastic laugh. Add that to the day ones. 

Quaritch misinterpreted this. “You do know that, don’t you kid?”

Spider groaned. “Enough!” he said. “I don’t care! I don’t give a shit what you believe, if you were any type of father you’d listen when I told you I would always hate you.”

Now it was Quaritch’s turn to fall quiet. Thank Eywa. 

Night had fallen in earnest by the time they landed. Artificial lights illuminated parts of the deck, but the lack of any plant life to bioluminesce made the place feel creepy and dead.

Spider thought he had never been in a place so dark before, stranded out at sea. 

He climbed off the ikran as the rest of the squad swooped down. 

“We camp out on deck tonight boys,” Quaritch stated. The squad went off to retrieve their packs from wherever they’d stored them while the ikran screeched goodbye by flying off into the night.

Where did that leave Spider?

Quaritched seemed to have the same thought. He turned the boy. “It’s 18:34, you stick with us until later. Then you can sleep inside the ship if I think you’ll be cool.”

Spider let out a disbelieving laugh as he shook his head in annoyance. He needed to be babysat, even on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Of course.

They moved towards the starboard side of the deck, which was a large, clear area. Slumping down to sit at the railings, he swung his legs over the edge and watched the water. The ship was travelling further out to sea, but the wind wasn’t strong. The water glowed where the edge of the ship cut through the waves, but other than this and a flood light on deck, it was completely dark. Despite his repressed terror at being alone on the vast ocean, he dangled his legs down and began to look for creatures in the waves. 

He had expected to see animals resembling dolphins or whales, perhaps leaping out of the water like he’d seen in old Earth TV shows, but there was nothing.

The sea was empty and black. Spider shivered. He wondered if this was normal, or whether the sea creatures just knew to stay away from the alien ship.

The noise of chatter and laughter brought his attention back on board. He turned around to see the recoms lighting a fire in some sort of container, and setting their packs around it for the night. 

“Hey kid,” Savine called over. “You wanna try the game again?”

Spider turned and shook his head. He was so tired. 

Another wave of pent up emotion coursed through his insides, but Spider had become skilled at pushing these away. Like earlier, he pressed it down, focusing on the here and now. He realised his head was starting to get dizzy from tiredness. He couldn’t stay where he was in case he drifted off and fell overboard, so he picked himself up and moved to slump against a wall near the warmth of the fire. He just wanted to close his eyes. He knew sleep was coming, fast. He was almost embarrassed about it. 

He lay his head against the hard wall, and brought his knees up to his chest. He closed his eyes, so ready to escape this reality. 

“Nah-ah, you’re not falling asleep like that.” Quaritch had spotted him. Spider opened his eyes to see the man rummaging in his pack for his jacket, from which he also pulled out Spider’s own spare clothing and a nutrient bar. “Eat this first,” Quaritch ordered. 

“I’m not hungry,” Spider said without any emotion, but he was betrayed by the rumbling of his stomach. 

He sighed, irritated as Quaritch smirked at him. He grabbed the bar and managed to eat it by only taking his mask off twice. It was such an annoyance. 

“You happy now?” Spider growled harshly. He did nothing to soften the hatred in his voice. 

Quaritch handed him the clothes as a pillow and threw the jacket over Spider’s abused body. 

As soon as Quaritch’s back was turned, Spider’s eyes closed. He didn’t even think to check his oxygen before he passed out completely. 

[wolveria]

writing advice anon here! as it happens, I'd thought to save the question in case tumblr ate it, so here it is!

hi! i was hoping u could offer some writing advice for me. so im writing something where character A and character B don't trust each other quite yet, and im struggling to write the "filler" scenes that establish their bond, right before we get to actual plot progression, if that makes sense. everything i come up with feels like it contains too many time skips, or the scenes are too short or repetitive, and frankly, it just ends up sounding boring. what can i do to make this part of my story more interesting? sorry if this is a mess, thank u ❤️

I’m laugh/crying because as soon as you sent this, your original ask showed up, and someone else’s ask disappeared. What a disaster LOL But good thinking, saving your ask!!

That’s a great question, and I’ll try to explain it as best I can. I used to dread filler scenes until I realized they serve a purpose, generally with character development and interpersonal relationships. So you’re on the right track realizing that your “connective filler” should show the building of trust between these two characters as well as move them toward the next plot point.

I always turn to Alexa Donne’s videos for advice, and this is a good video about filler scenes and is only six minutes long. Her advice would do well for you I think, especially since it sounds like you are underwriting and the pace is too fast.

I feel that this video will also help you. Alexa talks about the “middle act” of a story, which sounds a lot like what you’re dealing with in terms of pacing, plot progression, and character relationships.

All in all, there’s no easy straightforward answer, just a couple of resources I can provide you to help with pacing and filler. If the pace is too fast for me, I slow it down by having the characters reflect on their situation, on their history, and how they feel about the other character, which can often lead to some interesting back-and-forth between them. Character dialogue is one of my favorite things to explore, and filler scenes are the prefect time to go wild with them.

I hope that helped! Thank you for sending in another ask, and feel free to send more if you want!

[lets-get-fictional]

I am so bad at writing filler information scenes. They always turn out stilted and stupid. I'm not one to info dump so I need to integrate these details strategically when theyre necessary so the reader doesn't get distracted or confused but still knows these things. What do you suggest?

Hiya! Thanks so much for your question. Spreading out information can be tricky, but it’s important to avoid info dumps.

On Filler Scenes and Info Dumps:

Filler scenes are never necessary. Every scene needs a purpose and needs to keep the reader’s attention, and filler scenes tend to have no purpose and be very bland. It’s best to avoid them altogether.

Info dumps are just as bad as filler scenes. Avoid them at all costs. Slowly sprinkle in information as the story progresses. Reveal information as the reader and/or characters need to know it. There’s lots of ways to introduce aspects of your world or characters. Have your characters read a passage of a book. Have them go to a street market filled with food, clothes, toys, etc. Casually put details into conversations.

The general rule of thumb is: do not put more than 5 major world building or character details in a chapter. If the chapter is really long, you can put more than 5. If it’s really short, put less than 5.  Putting any more than that can confuse your readers and distract them from the plot.

Thanks again for your question! If you need help with anything else writing-related, feel free to send in another ask. Happy writing!

- Mod Kellie

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

So I've been working on my NaNo story, and I have several major plot points written out, as well as some smaller things to help with character development and such. However, I'm having a hard time connecting these scenes without cutting to their next destination. I feel like I've overused having them have generic Q&A sessions or playing road trip games with each other. Any advice?

Whenever there’s space between scenes, you have to make sure that you don’t fill the gaps with fruitless conversation that tells the readers nothing or trivial tasks that wouldn’t need to be described otherwise.

My suggestion is that, if it’s a really big difference in time between one event and the next, put a line break.

You mentioned a road trip? Perhaps they stop for gas or at a diner and something happens. A wallet stolen, a phone lost, a character seeing that bitch Stacy from high school with her new hubby, a character recalling something from their past about a time their great aunt’s cousin’s son’s friend’s former roommate took them to a place like that.

Hope this helped, and sorry about the long wait!

[marieforster20]

Day 72: Do you have filler scenes in your WIPs? How do you fill them?

I find filler scenes are mandatory for character growth. Otherwise, you wind up monologuing to explain character feelings or emotions.

My favourite scene recently is a pair of characters talking as one searches for a ladybug in the grass. It gives them time to focus on their surroundings and one another without it being high-stakes which is a nice breather after the previous scene.

Thanks for the question, @the-wip-project