Struggling a bit with part of the writing job, curious of anyone has any input in making this particular aspect easier.  Writing important, fate-deciding portions of the book is very easy.  All the qualities of my characters come to the surface then in a brilliant display of themselves, and my "beta" readers have expressed it that way.  Pulse-pounding action or creating an air of sensuality or sexuality is very easy, thankfully.

What I am having problems with is, for lack of better terms, "filler."  The day-to-day-followings that lead up to events, that make the book believable and relate-able.  Creating a readers bonds with characters  without having to put them into a life-threatening dramatic situation to do so.  Exploring personalities and creating enigma is difficult for me, and oftentimes I find myself writing a droll, hard to follow series of pages that might give some insight into the character, but lack any sort of entertainment value whatsoever.

Anyone else overcome this?

Every character, and each one of us, has daily habits. Create some interesting "daily habits" for some of them that might add to the book.
It could give some action between the plot or plots.

If it feels like filler to you, it's probably unnecessary.  The key is to include character-building sections in with parts that are significant to the plot.  People are often multiply engaged with personal thoughts and actions at the same time as they're doing something more significant.  Try to work the two in together.

Im finding the more I write, the more I read other books less for the stories and more to see what Im missing and the easy "filler" is a big part of that. Its almost a process in giving the details just right so it doesnt seem like filler. Just something that comes with experience I think. Im about done with my third book and stopped to do a short Novella where Im really really paying attention to getting character and place details right to where they flow. That way as I finish my third book and on the read through, I can add or change stuff hopefully for the better with a little more practice and attention paid to those aspects.

I'm new to the writing game, but here's a few ideas I heard once upon a time:

Make the info you want to share into a conversation between two or more people.
Put the conversation in an interesting or distracting setting (that's why you see a lot of strip clubs in action movies, or so I'm told)
Have the information be divulged while in transit to another place/situation. Have one of the characters fall asleep/dream/flashback.
Cut to the chase. don't set things up with long detailed information, just jump into the good stuff.
Skip all that and just have it be action. All action all the time.
All killer, no filler.


But, like I said, I'm new to the game and that may all be crap advice.

I wrote a zombie book and I used it as a learning tool. I made a lot of action scenes and not a lot of detailed back stories to things. I also find that I'm repetitive in things and while working  on the four first drafts I have right now I watched and made sure not to do that again.

Are you beta readers friends? If they are you might want to send it out to a few other people and get their opinion on things. I have friends who read my stuff said it was good to only have it tore apart by real readers out there.

If something flows well I wouldn't go adding back story and filler into it.

If you need an editor who will be brutal and honest with you let me know. Garrett Cook took my book and ripped it apart and edited gave me pointers on how to make it better. I did fail on pulling them all out and doing my part. But the main thing is I learned a lot from him and having it edited.  

Garrett Cook Editing he will also work with you on pricing. Good guy.

Keep us posted on your book.

Good call about the beta readers. "Yeah, man, this is awesome!" says a buddy who reads it. Then a real fan of the genre sees it and rips it to shreds.

Take everything like that as a learning experience. An education. My editor taught me a lot, but that's what I'm paying her for.

Although not directed at me, thanks for the heads up on the editor, OAF. Always on the lookout for some different eyes to take a look at what I'm working on.


"If something flows well I wouldn't go adding back story and filler into it. "

This.


Second what OAF said - looking forward to hear progress on your book.
RC

Another set of eyes never hurts. I have taken feedback on my book of those leaving feedback on amazon and I've tried to apply it to my next work. Being an Indie author is tough when doing the leg work yourself.

Blogs would help too. If you do a blog and ask for feedback and just watch how your blog grows will give you a good indication on your story and how it flows too.

Set a daily word count and just build it from there.

Stop showing it to beta readers until it's finished.

Reminds me of the story of the blonde who wanted to be a star in Hollywood.

She slept with a writer.

But seriously, The plot is the plot, and what makes the characters is what you are calling "filler".  Also, "characters" are more than just people.  For example, in Raymond Chandler, Jack London, and Carl Hiaasen, to name just a few, novels, the location, geography, and weather are "characters".  A realistic, well written locale is a lot of "filler" and adds a lot of "character" to a novel.

Best of luck.

Someone commented the other day, regarding romance novels: "They have little plot, very little setting, so they concentrate heavily on emotion & internal dialogue."

Getting the balance right is tricky. But then again, doing anything well requires practice. IMHO.

Thanks for the advice.  I wrote a bit more over the last couple weeks and have been keeping these things in mind.  I find it trailing a bit, but thats' not a big deal--copy and paste the parts that don't quite fit into a "scraps" document for later integration.

“It is perfectly okay to write garbage--as long as you edit brilliantly.”
? C.J. Cherryh


But what does she know? Pshaw!

It's very true though, without the crap, most books wouldn't get finished. I would much rather edit at the end of a finished manuscript than to try and figure out what is dumb and what isn't mid-project.

Hey checkout "Do the Work" by Steven Pressfield for a few pointers. (The audio version is really good)