{"id":235,"date":"2024-03-07T22:14:09","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T22:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/?p=235"},"modified":"2024-02-23T22:24:08","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T22:24:08","slug":"filler-vs-plot-points-in-novels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/2024\/03\/07\/filler-vs-plot-points-in-novels\/","title":{"rendered":"Filler vs. Plot Points in Novels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jenelle Hekman<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Good writing has ups and downs throughout the telling of the story. The plot, whether romance, adventure, horror, or mystery, is propelled forward through action beats with quiet portions in between. Writing good filler without boring yourself or your readers can be challenging, and without proper drive, it can cause natural writer\u2019s block. Writing a good plot is essential, and so is writing good filler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action<\/strong> moves a plot forward. <\/h3>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
“Pirate Sword Fight<\/a>” by\u00a0TheBusyBrain<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY 2.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Likewise, filler should move your plot forward. Filler allows readers to get a glimpse of your characters\u2019 personalities when they aren\u2019t pushing forward in the plot. Plot points are your roadmap for your prose. These are where action should occur as your protagonist and side characters move forward in their objective against the antagonist. This keeps your reader hooked and engaged in the storytelling. But the pauses in between action beats are where filler occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
“The Detective<\/a>” by\u00a0paurian<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under\u00a0CC BY 2.0<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Filler<\/strong> is where the reader can learn about your characters. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Writing something where the characters aren\u2019t actively fighting the antagonist may be challenging. Still, these scenes are where a reader can piece together the personalities of the characters you present. Most of your readers won\u2019t have solved a crime as a private detective or battled dragons and sorcerers. Filler scenes are where your reader can feel connected to your characters, and you can naturally incorporate your worldbuilding, but be cautious of worldbuilding. Filler can look like conversations or descriptions of movements, but the goal is for your readers to have a complete picture by the time they finish the novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plot<\/strong> will go up and down throughout the course of your novel, and as the author, it\u2019s your job to know where action and filler will fall. If there\u2019s too much action, your readers won\u2019t get to know your characters or world. Too much filler makes your readers wonder what the novel’s point and direction are. A good novel has a balance of both.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jenelle Hekman Good writing has ups and downs throughout the telling of the story. The plot, whether romance, adventure, horror, or mystery, is propelled forward through action beats with quiet portions in between. Writing good filler without boring yourself or your readers can be challenging, and without proper drive, it can cause natural writer\u2019s block. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-writing-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235\/revisions\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.calbaptist.edu\/dazed-starling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}