Filler Scenes

You've probably heard of "filler scenes" before. And you've probably heard that they're basically pointless scenes that one adds into a story to kill time.

I'm here to tell you one very important thing.

You don't want pointless scenes in your novel.

If you write something that is completely pointless, that doesn't further the plot of your story or develop it in any way, it shouldn't be in your book. It will only break up the story.

But here's something most people don't realize: filler scenes are not pointless.

In fact, filler scenes actually have one specific point to them regardless of what they're about.

They break up the action, drama, and conflict.

They give your reader and your characters a necessary moment to breath.

What else can filler scenes do?

They can further character development, further relationships between characters, add info that readers don't realize they need to pay attention to until it relates to the plot twist.

Filler scenes are some of the most beneficial scenes you can write.

For example, what if some characters have just escaped a from the villain. Maybe after they escaped they found somewhere to stay overnight. You, as a writer, could use that time to create a filler scene by creating some quiet bonding time for them. Maybe they haven't been real open with one another, and this moment finally gives them the chance to do so. Maybe one of them is afraid, and the other reassures them by doing something to comfort them. Maybe one of them got injured somehow by the villain, and the other patches them up.

These scenes have a purpose.

They further the plot, and they further the relationship between those two characters. In those scenes, you could reveal more information about one or both of the characters, and you could show how they grew closer to one another—or how they grew farther apart from one another depending on what happened.

You can also simply give the readers a glimpse into a different character's mind during a filler scene. Maybe you've been in one POV the entire time, so you decide to switch for one chapter. Maybe during that chapter the character who's POV you're in you show all the pain that's happening within them. Maybe they think about their childhood, and your reader gets a glimpse into their past. Maybe you just show that who they are on the inside is drastically different than what they project on the outside.

Regardless of what you use filler scenes for, they're beneficial. They are in no way pointless.

Why do we need filler scenes?

Without filler scenes, there would never be any room to breathe for the reader.

Besides the fact that they help character development and reveal information, they are meant to break up the action or drama.

This, in turn, hightens the suspense and thrill of the action or conflict.

If a book was all action and conflict, it would quickly become boring. It's hard to draw out suspense when that's all you're writing.

Filler scenes help connect the readers to the characters, and they help raise the stakes during a conflict.

Filler scenes should always have a purpose.

As I've said above, filler scenes are never pointless.

Writing pointless scenes in a novel makes no sense. Why would you write something that doesn't further the plot or pertain to the characters' journeys in any way?

It's easy to think of filler scenes as something you don't need, or as some pointless add-in, but it's important to realize that isn't true.

If you're writing a scene just to raise your word count, than it isn't a true filler scene. It's just pointless extra words. Now if that scene in question actually furthers the plot or benefits the storyline in some way, even if you're writing it to raise the word count, it is a filler scene that should be in your novel.

That's why fun scenes, or fluff as many refer to it as, are actually beneficial.

No matter what you're writing, at least one filler scene is a necessity.

I hope you found this blog post helpful!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them down below.

Happy writing!

-Jocelyn