Transcription
[Music] I wonder what I'll do today. Oh, right, deadline and all. Uh, I think I'll just phone it in until the next real video. I need a topic, though. Something so easy that I could cover in my sleep. What I need is some good old-fashioned story filler.
Filler arcs, as they are often called in anime, or bottle episodes, as American television calls them, are cheap episodes designed to pad out the runtime due to either budgetary constraints, when an adaptation overtakes the source material, or there is a push for more content regardless of the quality of said content. Regardless of the reason, filler arcs are great for a writer because they are low effort. For the audience? Not so much. But that sounds like a big old pile of "not my problem." Besides, the audience knows better than to complain about filler. Expecting filler to be good is like expecting a picture of a fast food burger to match what you actually get. We all know it's garbage, and as such, there is no expectation for a writer to do their job properly.
Now, writing filler is all about bringing your C game, not your A game. I'm of course joking. A writer's C material is way too good for filler. C-minus minimum, but a good writer aims for at least D-grade material when writing filler. Gotta save that C material for the slower arcs of the main plot.
As for the plot for my filler, well, a writer has a number of options to pad things out. One option is the movie version of an established series, where my filler story is a sudden, high-stakes, earth-shaking calamity that must be stopped at all costs, but leaves no trace once resolved. No matter how much collateral damage occurs, this has such deep ramifications for the setting that no character ever brings it up again or even remembers it when the story gets back to the main plot. The sudden high stakes can be used to explain why the main story is suddenly put on hold so the characters can go on this side adventure. Though why they never remember it afterwards is something that can be brushed aside, since the audience will probably forget about it too.
Now, another great thing about filler is that it can be shoved right into the middle of the main series plot with no regard for pacing and with little to no transition. Is our fantasy world locked in a crucial battle that is the linchpin of the kingdom's defenses? Well, just put that all on hold. The dark lord can wait until the beach episode is done. I mean, unless he wants to go on vacation too. Who cares if the protagonist hasn't found the time bomb yet? It'll tick down the speed of the plot anyway, and there is plenty of time for an underdog sports story in between.
Could this have been avoided with even the most basic amount of planning? I mean, yes, but no one will care. It's filler. It's all about going beyond even what a lazy writer would do. See, a lazy writer would just say it was all just a dream or something. But writing filler doesn't even need that most basic level of justification because we all know it's filler. In fact, I care so little that instead of a high-stakes plot, I could instead go with the even lazier plot and just have an incoherent mess of misadventures that feel more like ad-lib than an actual plot. Basically, just cram in a bunch of skits that didn't fit in anywhere else, and that should be good enough.
The standards for filler are low, which makes it match perfectly with comedy, one of the lowest art forms. Things like series tone can be safely discarded during filler episodes, so it's the perfect time to throw in that weird segment the editors cut. In fact, just keep throwing in random ideas until the whole filler story resembles the soup of "meh," seasoned with non-cutable mustard that tastes suspiciously like the leavings on the cutting room floor. Who cares if the ideas don't mesh? One idea has to be just good enough to keep the drooling morons who like it sufficiently entertained and keep our ratings above water. If too many things happening can't bring this mess soup to a boil on the back burner, then maybe pad out the filler with one idea stretched to the breaking point.
Now, even a simple idea can often have untapped potential to make for great storytelling, but that requires creativity and passion, which are both at a premium during filler. Instead, use this single simple concept as a crutch to make it through the filler arc until the end of the runtime. If it snaps midway through, then just crawl across the runtime anyway. It's not like anyone would really care, and a writer can just blame the concept for being weak rather than their weak execution.
Now, here is where I would put a smooth transition between talking about filler plots and characters, if I had the budget for it. This "can't do" attitude is perfect for when designing new characters for a filler story. See, filler stories are a great opportunity for adding new characters who just come out of nowhere and then return to nowhere once the filler is finished. Since it is just filler and no one cares, this is a perfect opportunity to sneak in my very original character who is super cool and immediately made part of the main cast. Is this basically a fanfic character? Of course not. It's very officially part of the series canon, even if that part of the canon is relegated to a wiki stub.
You know what's even better? A filler story romantic interest. Now, this is going to sound strange coming from me, but the standards for filler are so low that even a love triangle is too much effort. So, yes, a filler arc could use a love triangle, but I can't be bothered even with that amount of effort because filling out the extra angle of the love triangle requires taxing my already limited creativity to the breaking point. Instead, feel free to use the love black hole that will swallow up the filler arc's love interest once the story is done, never to be seen again. Won't this mess up the canon relationships? I mean, it would, but it's filler, so no one cares. A filler arc romantic interest doesn't count as cheating, no matter what the divorce court says.
What about the filler arc villain? The ideal filler villain consists of three parts evil, two parts ham, one part "into the world as we know it," and zero parts motivation. If pressed, then just say the villain's motive is to oppose the protagonist for the exact length of the runtime before being killed and never seen again. Just make sure the villain has enough flair that the audience doesn't have time to dwell on the vague feeling that they miss something, like a backstory or basic motivation. Kinda like most superhero movie villains, come to think of it. Though at least the audience can find the super villain's motives in the original comics.
Don't forget the villain's goons. Even though the audience will, in spite of their strangely intricate character designs, they are super strong and menacing until they're not and are beaten anticlimactically so we can hurry along to the main boss. Don't worry about it too much. Just have the main characters tell the audience how threatening these new antagonists are, but provide absolutely no details, lore, or anything really as to how they know that. Just have them say, "These guys are dangerous," or something.
Now we got our filler villains. What about the main characters? Well, they are there too. At least the theme park versions. Close enough that the audience shouldn't notice unless the writer really screws up previously established characterization. We can't have newly established characterization. Filler is all about coasting by on momentum, not having some actual character development. We don't want to punish the audience who is smart enough to just skip the fillers, so I can't have anything important actually happen, at least character-wise. All character development should be saved for the main plot. New powers are cool, though, just so long as they are never seen again outside the filler, no matter how useful they are.
Now, what about the setting? Could filler be used to explore parts of the setting more in depth? Of course. You know, so long as my explorer, you mean glorified slideshow, filler has a long tradition of just adding entire countries and even continents from nowhere. I mean, these places are lucky to get names, much less a place on the map. Filler is actually a really good place to add in interesting and unique concepts and then not follow through with any exploration of said concepts. Wasted potential isn't a concern, only wasting effort on a filler arc. What if these new additions don't mesh well with the setting's tone and theme? Well, the solution to this is: I don't care, because this is all just a waste of time.
Speaking of wasting time, how long is this video so far? Not long enough yet. I need more padding. Uh, how about a fetch quest? I'll send my characters to snatch some McGuffin artifact thing that is super powerful but never heard of until now and could be absolutely amazing in resolving the main plot if used, but thankfully will be forgotten when I return to the main story. It will vanish along with the country I added and the continent that said country was located on, probably swallowed up by the same black hole that ate the filler arc's love interest. Though I suppose I don't need a McGuffin hunt to keep the main characters busy. I just got word of another settlement that needs your help. I'll mark it on your map. Oh, the main characters have already dealt with that. Um, well, I just got word of another settlement that needs your help. I'll mark it on your map again. Yeah, I can do this all day. You'll never get that quest log clear. See, no McGuffin needed when I can just lock my characters in an eternal cycle of busy work.
Oh no, the characters are trapped in this extremely cheap to film in location by like mountain lions or a rock slide or something. See, this adds tension to the scene. I mean, yes, it is as transparent as clear glass, but it will keep the characters pinned in place and pad out the runtime, and I can even pretend there's tension in the scene, even if it's about as fake as a video game character's inability to wade through knee-deep water without drowning. Okay, that had to fill up some time in the video. Ugh, still not enough. Okay, how about a flashback? Yeah, good old flashback. Man, this reminds me of the time I talked about flashbacks in the exposition video. Man, this reminds me of the time I talked about flashbacks in the beginning of a story video. We need to start with a flashback rather than using that flashback to show a key character moment. Let's instead use it to reference an event that will in no way shape the protagonist's outlook or ever come up again in the story. Still not enough? Let's flashback within a flashback. That won't be confusing. Oh, that's right. Flashbacks within flashbacks are the best. Flashbacks within flashbacks within flashbacks are great for filler. Okay, I should have gobbled up some runtime. Ugh, I still need more. Okay, um, I'm not getting desperate. It's not like I'm trying to add filler to this video or anything. Um, oh, a clip show. Yeah, when a writer is scraping the bottom of the barrel, then they can always just throw together a cheap clip show. If a writer does go the extra mile, then they could try to justify the clip show, like a character waxing nostalgically, or they are on trial for their actions. Yeah, good old clip show that recaps the events of last season. Obviously, this is there to bring the audience up to speed in case they missed an episode, and not because this is a bottle show, and that excuse will totally fly in today's streaming media landscape. In fact, I think I'll add a bunch of TWA clips now too. Um, bring the audience up to speed, and most definitely not to fill out the last couple minutes of this video.
[Music] Oh crap, it's already over. Um, okay, I did the flashback and the clip show. Uh, there's got to be another cheap trick I can use. Anything to avoid just writing something passable. We all know it's impossible to write something good when under a budget crunch. It's not like some amazing episodes come out of bottle shows. That's as impossible as singing a duet on some ninth version of a deep space station. Well, I guess I have no choice. I have to tell everyone what the real secret behind writing great filler is. It's... oh, hey, the check cleared. Okay, so everything is still going according to plan. I just need a disguise and 10 pounds of fresh lemons. And then... no, enough of this. I am the Dark Lord! Yes, we know you keep shouting it every five seconds. I will be harried by these horrible hand-harassers no longer! The rest of you pathetic losers can watch as I march forward and take the Intergate and crush Greed right in his smug JP face! Wait, are we going to? Are we finally? It's... it's a battle finally! Too bad I can't blast some Mick Gordon. Stupid copyright. This is all you have, Greed? A paywall followed by some paltry beast? The Intergate is mine! What about a region lock? Too bad you can't access the Intergate from there. Well, you could if you had this video sponsored by NordVPN. Ah, it's thanks to everyone who watches these videos, as well as gracious sponsors like NordVPN, that the Terrible Writing Advice Expanded Universe continues to thrive. As a frequent traveler, I use NordVPN's over 5,400 fast servers across 59 countries to access my streaming services when abroad or to buy video games that the local nanny state has claimed are inappropriate for fully grown adults. Speaking of states sticking their noses in my business, NordVPN's uses anti-malware threat protection, blocks trackers, and masks your IP, even evade BAM with throttling. With NordVPN encrypting your traffic, TWA fans can go to nordvpn.com/terriblewritingadvice to get a two-year plan with four free months at a special discount, all with a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee. Link is in the description below. Curse you, convoluted foreign privacy laws! How are we going to get past this? What did you do? I just paid for it so we can hurry up and get to the Intergate. Wait, is that the Intergate? You...