Filter words are a pesky problem for writers.
You may not be familiar with the term, but if you’re an author, I can guarantee you include them in your writing, and often. Even the best writers struggle with filter words, but they can be especially cumbersome for new writers who are still developing their craft.
These common words and phrases put distance between the reader and the story, which is the exact opposite of what you want as a writer. Finding and removing filter words can be transformative for your manuscript, and it’s a big part of our guidance during the line editing process for novelists.
But what are filter words? How do you find them, and how do you get rid of them? Are there instances where filter words are ok? We’re going to break all of that down in this article.
What are filter words?
Filter words, sometimes known as filter phrases, are words a writer uses to show a scene, setting, or situation through a character’s perspective. As a quick example, consider this sentence:
Milton watched the customer walk out of the restaurant.
In this sentence, “saw” would be the filter word. The primary action of this sentence is Milton watching.
But let’s assume the reader already knows who Milton is, and is accustomed to watching events play out through Milton’s perspective. In that case, we can rewrite the sentence to simply be:
The customer walked out of the restaurant.
That small change makes a big difference in this sentence. Now, the focus is on the customer walking out, rather than Milton watching the customer walk out. This is how filter words create a “layer” between the reader and the action of the story.
In addition to creating a disruption between your readers and the action of the scene, there are a couple other issues filter words cause:
- Filter words make sentences feel clunky or wordy.
- Filter words cause repetition
Of course you want your reader to live the character’s experience, but filter words won’t achieve this. They’re some of the weakest words you can write, in fact, because instead of putting your reader in the character’s shoes, you’re adding a layer of distance between them.
To further illustrate this point, let’s look at more examples.
Before and after: Examples of filter words
Here’s a paragraph we’ve put together, with all of the filter words bolded:
Maria noticed James had gone silent and was staring past her out the coffee shop window. Turning and looking herself, she saw a beautiful woman on the sidewalk, talking animatedly on a mobile phone. Maria felt a little tug of jealousy, and she turned back around furiously and stared at James, who jumped and looked down at his espresso. She realized he wasn’t blushing, but he seemed uncomfortable. “Who is that?” she asked as she watched his face for any sign of guilt. She wondered if he could ever tell her the truth. She decided right then this would be his last chance to regain her trust.
And here it is reworked slightly with the filter words eliminated:
James had gone silent and was staring past Maria out the coffee shop window. A beautiful woman was outside, talking animatedly on her mobile phone. Jealousy tugged at Maria’s gut, and she glared at James, who jumped and shifted his eyes to his espresso. He wasn’t blushing, but that didn’t mean anything. “Who is that?” she asked. Was he guilty again? Was he even capable of telling the truth? Perhaps he deserved one more chance to regain her trust.
The difference between these two paragraphs is striking. By removing the filter words from a first person narrative, you’ll coax out your narrator’s voice so it rings clearly in the reader’s mind. And regardless of the point of view, your reader will feel the experience of your characters more deeply and directly.
Filter word lists
As book editors, we can spot filter words from a mile away. The team got together to compile a list of filter words that you can keep track of in your own writing. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it certainly contains the most-common offenders.
Here they are broken down into categories, with more examples:
Sensory and perception filter words
These are perhaps the most common filter words we see. They are used to describe the sensory feelings of characters and narrators:
- to see
- to look
- to watch
- to glimpse
- to spot
- to hear
- to listen
- to feel
- to touch
- to smell
- to taste
Thought and cognition filter words
These filter words show a character processing something instead of just experiencing it. They add distance any time you tell the reader what a character thinks or realizes, instead of showing it directly:
- to think
- to wonder
- to realize
- to know
- to understand
- to decide
- to remember
- to recall
- to recognize
- to consider
Approximation filter words
These filter words hedge instead of committing to a description or thought. They tell the reader something seems or sounds a certain way, instead of just describing it outright:
- to seem
- to appear
- to sound like
- to look like
- to feel like
Ability and possibility filter words
When a character is taking action, you don’t want to slow them down. These are filter words that tell readers what a character could do, instead of outright saying what a character is doing.
- can
- could
- couldn’t
- to be able to
- to manage to
Awareness filter words
These filter words announce that a character is aware of something instead of simply narrating what they notice. They’re often the easiest to cut without losing any meaning:
- to notice
- to note
- to experience
- to sense
- to perceive
When are filter words acceptable?
In most cases, you can eliminate filter words from your writing, and you’ll end up with tighter, stronger prose.
But not every time. Sometimes, filter words make sense and can be left in. This is a judgement call we make every day as book editors.
Filter words work when they signal doubt. “She thought she heard footsteps” means something different than “Footsteps sounded behind her.” The character isn’t sure. Without this filter word, you lose that uncertainty.
Filter words work when a character is dissociating or numb. A traumatized narrator noticing her own hands shake, instead of her hands just shaking, can show she’s watching herself from outside her own body. In these moments, the distance that filter words provide makes for a stronger reading experience.
Filter words also can be used for pacing. A short filter word slows a fast paragraph down for a beat before the next sentence lands. Sometimes, filter words are a strategic syntactical choice.
Before you cut one, ask what it’s doing. If it’s carrying doubt or distance, leave it. If it’s just habit, cut it.
How to eliminate filter words in your writing
It’s almost impossible to write a book without including filter words in your drafts. In fact, trying to edit out your filter words as you are writing your first draft may slow you down. Instead, focus on removing filter words during the self-editing process.
The easiest way to do this is to use the search function on your manuscript. (Usually, this is as simple as hitting control + f.)
Then, start typing each of the filter words from the list above into the search bar. Pretty quickly, you will notice which filter words you rely on most.
Each time you come across a filter word, consider whether it can be removed to tighten the sentence. This can be a tedious process, but the more you do it, the better you’ll be at excluding filter words in the first place.
Bear in mind that a professional book editor, like the ones here at Invisible Ink Editing, can help you eliminate filter words and restructure your sentences. If that sounds like something you’d find helpful, submit your manuscript for a free sample edit. One of our editors will get back to you with all of their best advice, including how to eliminate those pesky filter words.
One reply on “How to find filter words and filter them out”
[…] ‘Show. Don’t tell.’ Every writer has heard this mantra. I hadn’t, though, heard of filter words till recently. Filter words are verbs that take the reader one step away from experiencing life as your POV character. Leah Wohl-Pollack of Invisible Ink Editing gives this list: […]