The Guide to Wattpad (& Creative Writing)

Filler Chapters (the Con's)

Not every chapter can be action-packed with major plot twists and revelations, but I don't like filler chapters. Even if there's not enough plot to make every chapter as engaging as the ones packed with important bits, in-between chapters should still be interesting. More, even minor, advancements should still me made plot-wise.

If you don't have enough plot twists so are resorting to the 'over-use' of filler chapters, you probably just don't have enough plot to twist. In a story I started writing a while back, the character's mind has been wiped clean, so each chapter I could reveal memories beginning to surface. So each chapter would be interesting= no fillers.

I know filler chapters don't necessarily have to be uninteresting. They fill gaps between major plot twists, but they can used as an excuse. Then saying its a filler chapter in an authors note only makes it seem worse. And to readers that chapter might not have seemed like a filler anyway- so it's not necessary to point it out either.

Over-used filler chapters as a cool-down and the idea that they're to 'fill gap's' could lead to less engaging writing. If you're writing with the mind-set of 'oh, this is just a filler anyway', you're not going to put as much into it as what you would consider a the main chapter.

Saying all that, I suppose it depends how you define a 'filler chapter'. If you've pre-planned your story (which I'm assuming you would to determine which chapters are the fillers in the first place), a filler chapter might not be a section of absolute standstill, but just literally the chapters around the action. But I still think, especially pointing it out, isn't a good idea, particularly if you're looking to become a published writer.

I think the plot should extend to every chapter throughout the story to keep the audience engaged. Rather than jolts of the stops and starts of plot heavy chapters v.s fillers.

Do you use filler chapters?