Writing Productive "Filler" | Writing Hack
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- Опубліковано 24 лис 2019
- Today's writing hack should help with drafting. It's writing connective filler--things to get you from scene to scene, writing day to writing day. It's critical to also then do substantive editing! But allowing yourself to write filler can make the drafting process far less painful.
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I do this ALL THE TIME! My MFA thesis advisor told me that it's perfectly okay to "write yourself into the story": when you include information that is not necessarily important, but you're getting to know the story and characters, so you can just as well take this stuff out later. I write for pages and pages about things or scenes that will likely not find their way into the final draft, but it allows me to get to know my characters so much better. And yes, find the stuff that makes the writing process fun! When you find yourself getting bored or overwhelmed, figure out why you're bored or overwhelmed, and fix it.
A great tip for productive filler is looking at what’s missing from the book, that the said chapter can expound upon.
Any writing, even if filler, is making you better.
I've been trying to give myself permission to do this. I tend to be an underwriter so allowing myself to really expand and explore the characters and dynamics let me move into more impactful scenes that I might not have gotten to without the 'filler'. Love this hack.
Definitely did this during this NaNo not even knowing it was a thing. Since I'm mostly pantsing my novel, I always end up finding road blocks, not sure what to write next. I realized that it's easier for me to find ideas while I'm writing than in front of a blank page. I feel like those connective fillers are also a good idea to overcome writer's block.
I’m on my last 10k for NaNo but I’m worried that what I have (roughly) outlined for the end won’t reach the 10k, but this sounds like it could actually help! A few days ago I stumbled on your party scene hack and I used it to unravel my plot twist (& added around 2.5k words in!). Great video, thank you so much!!!
Also congrats on your most recent book getting picked up by a big publishing house!! 💗
i JUST subbed last night and i’m so excited that the first video upon subbing is a writing hack 😭🙌🏻♥️ just what i need!!!!
On the first draft of my first novel right now... thanks, this is great!❤
Thank you, this was really helpful! I've been getting stuck a lot in my writing process lately and I think one of my biggest problems is feeling like I need to get the story and the prose perfect the first time around without unnecessary filler and dialogue. I'll definitely try this hack!
This is really helpful - I often don't give myself permission to write "filler" because I feel like I should always be writing stuff to grip or to give information, that whole thing about not having scenes which aren't for the plot, but lately I've realised I've been taking that too literally. It's good to know others struggle with this too!
This is precisely how Jaime and I got to a completed draft of Shadows of the Past. Since it essentially started as fanfic, it was 99% filler anyway! But out of that filler, we eventually sculpted a real plot and real, original characters. It was a process that took several years--so long that people still question to this day whether we'll actually finish the damn book already. lol But what they don't understand is we NEEDED all that time we supposedly "wasted" on the fanfic in order to get to where we are now. (I have to remind myself of this constantly as well, especially when I'm feeling down about the fact it has taken this long.)
A few years ago, this quote from a blog called Aliventures stuck in my mind and has become a mantra of sorts for me: "Don't think about wasted words or wasted time--you needed those words and that time in order to get to a finished draft." Basically, this video conveys the same message, only in more detail, and it shifts the focus from words you've already written to words you may be writing now. It's a really good thing to keep in mind. 😊
Thank you so much. People have been telling me to write well and avoid info dumping when writing the first draft at all times. So this video was very helpful. Now I can do messy writing and then edit down with the stress of trying to write a perfect first draft
The disclaimer at the end took me out. 😂😂😂
Yes, I've already been using this 'hack'. I'm a chronic underwriter and participating in NanoWriMo. I haven't been writing 'bullshit' but I have written multiple scenes that are useful to me for helping develop characterization and fleshing out the backstory.
But also, I know I can't include this 1500 word conversation in the final draft. (Or even the next draft.)
I 100% support this advice. I was super stuck one day so I decided to write a self indulgent scene of spin the bottle and it was how I discovered my main character was asexual. Connective filler can be really good practice in discovering your character's voice as well.
That’s what I already do, I just love to write little scenes of them, and it doesn’t even have to have a point at all, like just have a cute little flower picking session because I can see them doing it and I’d just be so cute 🥰
It's really difficult for me to write "filler", especially when it's placed between two arcs of my stories...I know it basically is a breather for the reader between two action driven arcs (so several chapters) but writing it sometimes feels like a chore. All that I write feels like "nonsense and stuff I gotta put in cause we need to link plot points..." I'm exaggerating a bit, but imo it really is the weakest part of my writing. Needless to say this video is a god sent, thanks so much!!
I've been having severe writers block because of the fear of this subject lol And you were the first person that popped up when I looked up "How to write filler" and this gives me a lot of confidence, and motivation! You're very relatable and seem so nice, and my dream is to be a novelist, so your videos are helping me a ton mentally!!
As someone who tends to overwrite, this is THE BEST writing advice ever!!! Totally not what I was expecting!
This was really helpful. It pulled me out of my head. I am a panster this year and i've been floundering around even though I know the main plot points. So, thank you.
I’ve written entire birth to senility even death bios for all my major characters (and many ‘major minor’ ones, and lots of backstory scenes with them that won’t be in the finished book, because it helps me understand them. A 20 page bio or a long scene may only end up as a few sentences but i can be concise because I know what exactly happened to them and why it’s relevant to the scene that IS in the book. Glad to hear someone acknowledge this. It is not useless tinkering, for me its essential for character depth.
This is me, 100%! I may be a plantser but I don't really make a very detailed outline so I pants.
I prefer the term “Devil In The Details”. Make use of every scene you write(skeleton or not in the pre-planning phase) to establish something to a start. Then, whether you plot or pants your way through, maximize the details you can get away with(or conceive you need) in every scene so you know what to cut/reduce later in the editing stage. This is primarily for overwriters, but treat your drafting/writing phase however you do it to get that “completed first draft” as gathering the wood to load onto your truck. After you drive for the first time, you can see what's necessary in each scene, what to fix, what to edit, what to trim as you work your way down toward a finished product that efficiently best tells the story you want to tell. You may come across details in your writing that makes connections or moments you never want to forget and remember. Of course, spare yourself for the sake of the story. It's your creation and you should know what you want to do with it.
You always come up with the best topics! Great video/advice as usual!:)
Thank you. I needed this
After months of figuring out my story and writing some basic stuff out(bc my writing course makes me answer a bunch of question abt the main character, setting, story etc) and I had so many ideas and storylines that it stressed me out to the point where I didn't wanna write anymore. I finally decided to sit down and write out the outline of my story, right now I'm stuck, I don't want the battle scene to start yet, but I also don't want it to be boring.. This sort of helped.. :)
This video came at the perfect time for me, as I’m falling (a tiny bit) behind and feeling like, even after 40k words, I’d like to know my MC better. I will let her muse and reflect a bit more over the next few days! Thank you.
This vid definitely helped me since i hit a patch a patch of filler that a) was productive in terms of word count and getting me to a huge dramatic scene in my book it also b) kept me motivated and writing and c) helped me fill in backstory that i may or may not take out. I was struggling mentally still with question of if the time spent on filler was wasted but obviously wasnt. this of course is as long as u make sure u edit for length and quality properly and dont get too married to filler u write. Thanks Alexa... keep making these very specific vids...they really help with navigating a book
This advice video really resonated with me. Thanks so much for all your hard work Alexa ♡
You are absolutely getting me through this middle, thank you Alexa!!
I watched this video then went and wrote and won my first nano. And it helped me get to an important scene. Thank you for the video!!!
Well timed advice. As the days close on NaNoWriMo, prepare pre-mortem darlings to keep or build momentum, and make later cutting easier.
More writing hack videos would be muchly appreciated! Please and thank you!!!
Thank you. Helpfull as always. My first draft is literally word vomit. It all comes together with the editing. Your such a Legend!!!!
Thank you, love it, please keep it up, I’m in the process of finishing up the last Fifteen Chapters of my manuscript and need all the encouragement/ tips I can get, tips encourage me, I feel less alone....Thanks
I just finished NaNo for the first time yesterday. This video makes me feel a lot better about the filler I wrote. Great video.
Congrats! I finished on the 21st for the first time ever and feel the exact same way about my filler now. 😂
Thanks! This is what Im doing for my zero draft; I over-edit otherwise. This way, I write relevant or possibly useful things and contexts and can cut out/back later. I outline but there's a lot of wiggle room and I can switch things around so this helps :)
Oh hey look, it's exactly how I draft! ❤
I love writing indulgent scenes, even if I do end up cutting a lot of them later - it's good practice!
Thank god I was already doing this
I use this so often when I'm struggling to make myself write and just need a way to get into the groove. If it takes 200 words of stuff that won't make it into the final draft to get 1000 that will, I'm all for it!
Alexa! Thank you, this is exactly the reminder I needed to get through my last 6000 or so words to 50k! I'm stuck on how to start the next chapter after I basically took my MC's emotions and threw them in a blender.
So helpful to consider myself a discovery writer in the home stretch of Nanowrimo
I'm such an underwriter I need help.
When you mentioned writing a whole page of setting description my anxiety jumped 😅 but I really need to learn how to allow myself to write filler in my first draft. I feel like I always underwrite instead of overwrite.
If you don't like the word "filler", think of it more as a "sketch." When you draw usually you make a messy sketch and there are extra lines that are gonna end up being erased later, but those extra lines help you explore and figure out the structure of your drawing. So just sketch with words! you can tighten it all later.
I wrote 1200 words describing shitting in the woods and bathing in a steam. I'm guessing I will be cutting that down, but damn I liked that scene. :)
i didn't realize i was doing this, i just think of them as rewards for writing plot. I wrote the intricate, complex intrigue scene? let's braid hair and blush for a good page! but also doing this i end up making better plot and better characterization in the end a lot of these scenes end up with nuggets to use other places
Totally of topic but does anyone else find writing not only fight scenes, but training scenes difficult? It's like I can't seem to get it right.
Yes, they are tough to write! Fights need tighter pacing than usual, and it's hard to balance that against showing what's happening. Worse, something can disorient a character but I still need the reader to know what's happening.
Even more annoyingly sometimes there's a specific way to handle a weapon, or space constraints I forget about, so that fights are where my imagination conflicts with physics the most. (simple physics too, things like how any fight indoors is a lot more difficult than under the open sky. :\ )
Have you tried attending a training session? Gone to visit a real gym for fighters of one kind or other?
Most towns have some kind of training facility, a YMCA or similar, or dojo's, studios, trainers for something... Even just boxing is something. Take a look at the real deal, and bring a notebook to write out some of your impressions. If just a visit isn't enough to work with, maybe interview a real trainer or coach... whatever/whoever you can get. Talk over coffee... lunch... something. Admit (up front) it's an interview about the sport, the training, the differences between "playing at it" and "really trying to kill someone"... and get some "fresh to you" perspective...
Terminology tends to be among the worst (most egregious) shortcomings I've read in fight scenes. AND that's not a sexist thing (btw)... As many male writers can't adequately describe a crescent kick from a left cross... and a left cross is a punch! (lolz... it's okay to laugh)
Sorry, but you can read a thousand books on a subject, and it's still SOOOooo much more helpful to sit down and just chat with someone who knows what you're trying to study.
I think remembering the "short choppy sentences feel quick and choppy in scenes" while "long flowy sentences slow the scenes into long flowy drawn out things"... A lot of writer vid's talk about that... BUT that's not all there is to a fight or training session.
ANYWAYS... I don't even know really where you're having trouble... so for tossing pasta at the wall (figuratively) I hope this is some help. ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Thanks so much, this actually really did help give me more insight on how to go about writing fight scenes.
Another question though: How would I know how much information is too much information as a lot of the videos on the topic I've watched have said to 'leave something to the reader's imagination'
Thanks for the help!
@@miekevermeulen2527 That's a tougher line to draw... It might be "best" in terms of function, for you to write and draw out the whole scene, not animate but like a storyboard... Hit the important parts (frames) and take care for a consistent description, so just about anyone can read it and then set up and animate pretty much exactly what you've seen "in your head"... THEN you can go back and pick and choose where it's important enough to make the scene "work" and where you can scrap it for brevity, fluidity, or what ever other reasons... This pretty well guarantees several passes through editing, but if you start with a consistent "jargon" for your fighting scenes (in at least the single book) you can "teach the audience your language" in some sense, so they will still have some wiggle room for interpretation with the finished product, but you've created something that works on the fundamental levels of action.
It's a tough balance... SO don't be too disgusted with the first few passes or attempts. If you do happen to find a reasonable coach with some free time to collab'... You can also pick his/her brain on the scene setup, flow, and that sort of thing... while you fashion the basic scene together... Then just play with it until "it sounds right". ;o)
@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Thanks a lot for all the help!
Cause this is Filllllllerrrr saving your life. You might decided to toss it in the trasher, but it's Filler, Filler, Filler, Filler, saving the niiiiiiight
I have to write a few chapters about my characters just traveling, and I find it hard to do properly and meaningfully. It doesn't really move the main plot forward, and I'm desperate to make some sense of it. I suppose I could focus on the development of my characters and showing the land. I might thread in some foreshadowing and set up some things. Changing up everything for a few chapters is hard.
I do this where I write bullshit filler sometimes like a fun fact in the universe lol. I know I do this but I go along with it
So first off I want to say I am loving your videos! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge with all of us out there. You are my go to for inspiration, information and a good dose of a reality check. ;) I am very curious to see what your take on Novellas and pacing is? (not sure if you have addressed this in the past or not) I am in the process of writing a romantic/paranormal series and I cannot seem to get past a 25,000 word count. I am a very impatient person by nature and that bleeds into my writing as well. I like to get right to the point. And here is the thing, I absolutely hate fillers. Every scene for me has to have a deep impact on the plot line of the story, otherwise it feels so forced for me, but like one beta reader told me recently, I am giving out all the candy without the vegetables.
Fleshing out is especially good if your writing is too condensed, on the nose and if there is too much telling. It can help you to flesh out plot and character.
This!!! This this this.👍
Hi Alexa :) Quick question unrelated to this video. What do you think if Swoonreads? Have you heard of it? Would you recommend it?
I feel attcked, but at the same time, I'm on the brink of publising. Lol In seriousness though, I did end up writing a couple of what feels like filler chapters, but I made sure each had a goal. When its the relationships or a plot devise, I did my best to make sure there was a reason for that chapter. Buuuuut my book is also Multi-POV so It's a little harder, but I think I nailed it!
Alexa: "this hack is good for stuff like nano"
Me: *blinks at the entire chapter that is nothing but an info-dump backstory*
Me: *laughs nervously*
I'm writing this at like 1am Dec 1st and I WON NANOWRIMO
What happens after you write a character death and feel you should describe another character's reaction to it? This character that reacts to it is not important to the plot at all and doesn't show up again but isn't there some category of writing in which you should describe how it affects others even if it's irrelevant?
I have some filler scenes and I know I should edit it out, but what if I get attached to the scene? Can I keep it/incorporate it elsewhere into the story or should it be cut out period?🥺
Sometimes something intended as filler can become essential! Over time, you learn to tell the difference. Just have to feel it out as you go :)
I write this same way and I always save the scenes I take out. Odds are good they'll be gone forever, but it's nice to have them somewhere. Then you don't feel like you're throwing them away entirely.
A lot of books and series that came out years back, are getting and have gotten renewed interest because someone has composed a "so-n-so's world bible build" kind of novel or a collaborative exposition on the world/setting. You'd be well advised to keep even the stuff you're editing out as "non-essential" because those kinds of tidbits send fans into frenzies and fetch good collaborative agreements with writers and creators who are looking for a "favorite books revival" out of some world-bible effort.
SO even if it's "gone for good" from this novel, it doesn't mean it's never going to see the light of day. ;o)
Alexa, on your book that you got Pub'd, is it worth the writing? I mean, could you become a best seller?
I have a question, no need to answer, but it's for anyone:
My problem is my writing has almost no filler, I suffer from white-room syndrome, and I don't know how to ''fill'' a scene. What are some things you think about to ''fill'' a scene? I rely heavily on dialogue, but don't really have people interact with physical objects or their environment. And I think that's just me as a person irl, but how do I avoid that in writing? If tha t makes any sense.
How many words do y'all aim at writing in one day?
to be honest I need filler to slow things down it's a cosmic horror and it's going from one bizarre thing to the next it needs to slow down and it completely deviated from the original plan but on the bright side it's alot more exciting then originally planned and it gives me more creatures to write about especially with how I'm going to keep public domain characters who just happen to fit to a minimum but I do look at folklore from around the setting year it is actually a different world what just happens to be similar to the era and I don't consider things from after the setting year and I don't really know how people act around others that well but at least I'm good with logic but how did a story planned to be about pumpkins completely forget about pumpkins it's unfinished so I don't know if they will return but to be honest I wrote too much to abandon it so I have to use things that were mostly just up as I went on especially considering the lack of creatures and cast so it will have to do but I do make sure to actually consider what I already had not abandoning what I already had but adding to it and I plan to reuse the creatures what appears in the story at least some of them and I also added a part where everything important that happened so far is summed up while adding new information
I removed a whole large (rape) scene that gave my Seasoned Romance novel some thriller tension. I asked a writer's group what they thought. And the responses were overwhelming:
Is it just filler? If it's not essential or benefits or pushes the story forward then delete it. What say you? BTW you need to be teaching a writer's group. You explain well.
Sorry for budding in, but I have to ask, was this writer's group giving constructive feedback or personal opinions?
A controversial topic like rape can be hard to tackle because the people you are seeking constructive criticism from may not be able to push aside personal feeling when giving feedback.
If you were going to cut the scene ask yourself - Did I do this just for the dramatic effect? If I took the scene out how would it change the story? What is the overall tone of the story? (If 70% is more wholesome and you have the rest mature, it would seem out of place.) Is this scene really needed?
Sorry again for budding in, it just seemed like you deleted the scene only because your group didn't like it.
Alexa made some videos like "Evaluating Critical Feedback On Your Book" and a few about Critique Partners.
I don't like the to call it "filler" and I don't really connect with Alexa's explanation this time around. Because I do write like this, a lot because I'm a new writer and I need to practice. That's why rather then calling it "filler" I would like to call these writings "sketches" instead. Sketches are there to practice muscle memory, they are there to explore creative ideas and most of all, they come without an obligation. Since many of us struggle with perfection, this is an important thinking-skill to hone indeed. If you never go, you aren't getting anywhere.
Sketches sounds like a good way to talk about it.
But I think the aversion to calling it 'filler' is because more recently 'filler' has been considered somehow 'bad' but that's not really accurate or true. Filler is in between things, the glue that keeps a story moving. Or at least that's what it always used to mean, and I think to a degree that's how Alexa means it too. By that definition, excepting the most minimalistic and tightly paced works, almost every book has some kind of filler-- and it's almost never a bad thing.
That said, as an artist who loves to sketch, I still do really the idea of calling it sketches. :D
Totally agree with this video but find it odd that you loved the turn of the key when that book was almost nothing but filler.
Well, I do love Gothics, and I think that is particularly a book where the filler is part of the building tension? Like, part of it is her daily routine and things slowly escalating. I happened to enjoy that book, but I can see where someone else might not!
Yes writing fillers is a lot of fun! But they're a lot less fun to read
Some authors didn't get the memo to remove all the bullshit from the final product. :)
I'm reading a book about an android with pretty insane plot twists. It'd be great, apart from the fact that the author felt the need to include multiple pages of filler in every chapter full of the narrator's pretentious opinions on imperialism when it has nothing to do with the story.
After months of figuring out my story and writing some basic stuff out(bc my writing course makes me answer a bunch of question abt the main character, setting, story etc) and I had so many ideas and storylines that it stressed me out to the point where I didn't wanna write anymore. I finally decided to sit down and write out the outline of my story, right now I'm stuck, I don't want the battle scene to start yet, but I also don't want it to be boring.. This sort of helped.. :)