Filter Words
How to pare back or build in more distance with your prose
This is from a very old post, first written in 2010. Then updated in 2013 for the now-defunct Pub(lishing) Crawl.
Now here it is again, updated once more for today’s writer—and with new insights acquired over the last fifteen years.
So what the heck are filter words? And is there some more official term for them? As to the latter question, I have no idea. As to the former... Filters are words or verbs you tack onto the start of a phrase that add an extra “step” between reader and narrator.
Examples:
I see the moon rise overhead.
The moon rises overhead.
I hear a howl from the hall—it sounds like Emily is in trouble.
A howl echoes from the hall. Oh god, Emily!
I can feel the roughness of the canvas beneath my fingers, and it reminds me of Mom's jacket.
The canvas is rough beneath my fingers, just like Mom's jacket.
He looks furious with his eyes bulging and lips pressed thin.
His eyes bulge and his lips press thin.
Do you see the difference? Do you feel the difference? Filter words crop up left and right in my first drafts—it's so natural to want to include them. But as easy as they are to insert, they're even easier to catch and edit out.
Assuming, of course, that you want to edit them out. Sometimes, we want the added layer that filter words can bring into our prose. It changes the entire tone!
So the question to ask is: do I want immediacy or I do I want distance?
Here's a list of filter words for you to watch out for while drafting (or editing):
to see
to hear
to think
to touch
to wonder
to realize
to watch
to look
to seem
to feel (or feel like)
can
to decide
to sound (or sound like)
to notice
to be able to
to note
to experience
I'm pretty sure I put "to see", "to realize", and "to feel" about 10,000 times in each of my first drafts. And the number of instances I use some form of "can" is downright uncountable.
My point is: we all use them, but why not try using them with more focused intentionality?