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I’ve just read in a newspaper that, as a result of 50 shades, a couple have decided to divorce. It seems that sex is the problem; the woman wants to spice it up a bit but, the man doesn’t want any of it. Now, I can’t believe of any man, that he wouldn’t be up for a bit more adventure in the bedroom department, or anywhere else for that matter, so I’m surmising that the journalist has it wrong (no surely not, I hear you say) or, that there must be a deeper reason for their divorce, 50 Shades being only the trigger.
In a similar vane (okay, not that similar, but equally ridiculous), I once heard of a couple divorcing over stollen mushrooms. That is to say, she was preparing dinner and he kept stealing and eating the raw mushrooms as she peeled them. Very irritating I’m sure, if she’s in the wrong mood, but divorce material? I don’t think so.
These two examples show how people in real life make up reasons for why episodes happen in their lives; the ‘red herring’, and it seems people are prepared to accept them.
This all helps when writing, leading a reader down a path that might have little bearing on the actual plot. This could be particularly useful when trying to draw a story out, if you’ve got too close to the conclusion too soon in a story, and could save hours of rewriting. However, I think it would have to be used carefully; if you feed your reader too much bull, they will not thank you for it, but a well written diversion could be fun. Or would it? Perhaps, in the way that I read between the lines on the 50 Shades reason above, the reader will accept it only if they just don’t care? Actually, on reflection, as I write this piece, I don’t believe that at all! If you have to ‘fill a story’, it can’t be a very good one. So, bite the bullet, ditch that work and re-write it.
Ken Balneaves wrote, The Greatest Gift, available at http://amzn.to/QF7RLd (US), http://amzn.to/O12kgX (UK)
Ken Balneaves 
I think carefully using red herrings is a vital aspect of setting up tension around a mystery (and a novel doesn’t need to be a who-dunnit murder mystery to qualify as a “mystery” plot). But I also think people need to be cautious. If I get jerked around too many times with unexpected plot twists, I’ll eventually just quit caring about the story. On the other hand, if you give me too much time to formulate my own theory about what will happen, and the solution you propose is more lame than what I had in my head, I will be severely disappointed. I actually have had that latter issue quite a lot in recent years: being severely let down by a story because the version I had in my head was so much better than what the author did.
Interesting thought process. Filler is never good, it only makes things plumper but not necessarily healthier.