How to Get Rid of Filter Words in Your Writing (and When to Leave Them Alone)
- Iris Marsh
- 10 jun
- 9 minuten om te lezen
Bijgewerkt op: 14 uur geleden
Table of Contents
Want to tighten your prose instantly? Learning how to spot and remove filter words is one of the fastest ways to elevate your writing.
Maybe you’re reading through your draft and feel like something’s off, as if your prose isn’t as immersive as it could be. Do you feel like the narrative distance is further than it should be, as if there’s a subtle pan of glass between your reader and the character’s world?
Chances are, filter words are sneaking into your prose.
This is a very common issue in fiction, especially in first person and deep third. So, if that’s the POV you’re writing your story in… you might want to pay attention.
Now, it’s not as simple as just deleting every filter word you see. Sometimes, cutting them requires adding more vivid detail or rephrasing so the emotion still lands. Sometimes, filter words even help.
Lucky for you, in editing dozens of manuscript, including my own messy drafts, I’ve seen how filter words can transform your storytelling.
The most important thing? Understanding the purpose behind the filter words and revising to bring out your intention.
Filter words often act as placeholders in a draft, like your subconscious telling you, “This is a moment you want to revise later to add more emotional cues, but since we’re having such awesome momentum, let’s just say ‘I felt angry,’ for now.”
Let’s dig into what filter words are, how they affect your narrative voice, and how to use (or lose) them with intention.
You’ll walk away with a clearly outlined method to get rid of your filter words (or leave them alone), so you can self-edit your novel more effectively and efficiently.
🎥 Prefer to watch? Here’s a quick video where I walk you through everything in this post—and share some extra examples I didn’t include below:
What Filter Words Really Do to Your Prose
Filter words are words that “filter” a character’s experience through narration—like watching a movie through someone else’s retelling.
Imagine this: your friend went to an amazing party, and a celebrity showed up. They’re telling you all about it. It sounds fun, but you’re experiencing it secondhand. That’s what filter words do.
When you remove filter words, it’s like the reader gets to attend the party themselves—feel the bass thumping in their chest, taste the too-sweet cocktails, and catch a glimpse of that celebrity across the room.
When I first learned about filter words, it felt like an “ah-ha!” moment. Suddenly, “show, don’t tell” wasn’t just this vague advice people threw around, it became something I could actually see and fix.
Instead of second-guessing whether my prose was too distant or too flat, I started spotting filter words like little warning signs. They gave me a way to tighten the writing and pull readers deeper into the scene.
Of course, line editors are well aware of filter words, and it's one of the things they look for and revise.
Your Go-To List of Filter Words to Watch Out For
We all have our go-to crutches, so you don’t need to chase down every single one. Just glance through the list below and see which ones pop up in your drafts again and again:
see / saw | hear / heard | touch / touched | smell / smelled |
taste / tasted | think / ponder | feel / felt | realize / notice / note |
look / watch | wonder / remember | decide / assume | can / be able to |
experience | expect | decide | know / knew |
Each one adds a subtle layer of distance between your reader and the character’s world. On their own, they seem harmless. But over a full chapter? That distance adds up.
One of my clients leaned heavily on “thought,” “realized,” and “saw” in her third-person-limited narration. While this POV naturally includes more filtering than deep third, too much of it can still hold readers at arm’s length.
In her case, we weren’t inside the character’s experience—we were watching from a drone flying miles above.
We revised those filter words into direct sensory details and grounded internal reactions. Suddenly, the scenes clicked. The pacing picked up, the emotions landed harder, and the whole chapter felt more immersive.
Filter vs. Filler: Which Ones Actually Hurt Your Voice?
Since they sound similar, let’s clear this up.
Filter words create distance by describing perception.
Filler words are fluff—words like just, really, that, only, so, and well. They don’t usually filter anything, but they pad your prose without adding meaning. (Don’t worry, we all have our favorites. Mine are just, really, and only.)
In my own drafts, I noticed that when I cut both filter and filler words, my voice—and my character’s—came through more clearly.
Since I wrote those drafts in first person, trimming them from the narration and dialogue made a big difference. It not only tightened the prose but also gave more weight to the words that remained.
Every sentence felt sharper, more intentional.
For more techniques, including trimming filler words, check my line editing guide.
Why Filter Words Weaken Your Writing
Let’s look at an example to see what happens with filter words and when you remove them (from Spellbreaker).
With filter words:
She realized she was not familiar with this particular neighborhood. She had thought of burning the letter but felt worried she might get lost.
Without filter words:
She was not familiar with this particular neighborhood. She usually burned the letters right away, but feared she might get lost.
The second version pulls us closer. We feel her unease, rather than being told she feels it. We’re experiencing the moment alongside her.
In other words: we’re showing, not telling.
I’ve read many early drafts—especially from beginner writers—where the scene reads like a summary rather than an experience. There are usually a few reasons, but filter words are often a major culprit. They push readers outside the moment, turning what could be a vivid, emotional beat into something that feels distant and told.
Cutting filter words doesn’t just “trim the fat”—it sharpens focus. It strengthens voice, heightens immediacy, and pulls the reader straight into the character’s world.
And sometimes, that means adding words rather than removing them.
When Filter Words Are Exactly What Your Story Needs
It’s tempting to think, “Okay, I’ll just cut them all.” But filter words are part of a bigger picture: point of view (POV) and narrative distance.
Think of narrative distance as a camera lens:
In third-person omniscient, the camera is far away.
In first person or deep third, the camera is basically inside the character’s skull.
The closer the POV, the more jarring filter words become.
However, even in first person, you don’t need to cut all filter words. Sometimes, the filter word is the action—it’s what the character is doing. We do wonder, realize, remember.
For example, I kept “wondered” in this line from one of my own projects: “Sometimes I wondered if he could still sense my emotions as well.”
In this case, wondering is the action. Rewriting it as a direct thought—Could he still sense my emotions?—would shift the meaning.
That version sounds like a one-off moment of doubt, but “wondered” signals an ongoing question, a quiet pattern of uncertainty. That subtle distinction matters, especially when you’re building emotional subtext.
Now let’s contrast that with examples from Dune (third person omniscient):
Feyd-Rautha nodded, thinking: This is more like it.
He found this a fascinating subject. Everyone knew you couldn’t subvert imperial Conditioning!
He felt astonishment; she was talking about such elementary things as tension within meaning.
These filter words don’t disrupt the flow because the narrative voice already keeps us at arm’s length. In fact, they reinforce the tone and help the reader track shifting perspectives.
In books like Dune, where the POV often hops between characters, filter words can function as guideposts. They show us who’s processing the moment and from what distance.
First Person & Deep Third: Cut Ruthlessly (Most of the Time)
In first-person or deep third-person POV, readers are already inside the character’s head. Using filter words here is like telling someone what they’re already experiencing.
Take this example from Legendborn:
With filter words:
I feel extremely angry. I make it halfway back to Old East before I have to pause to catch my breath on the steps of a library. At the edge of Polk Place, I see what seems like all of Carolina’s students rippling across the quad in a steady wave, I assume heading to their first class of the semester. I remember Alice and I used to talk about EC like a grand adventure we would conquer together.
Without filter words:
Anger cascades through me so entirely I can taste it. I make it halfway back to Old East before I have to pause to catch my breath on the steps of a library. At the edge of Polk Place, it seems like all of Carolina’s almost thirty thousand students are rippling across the quad in a steady wave, heading to their first class of the semester. Before, Alice and I’d talked about EC like a grand adventure we would conquer together.
The revised version is more visceral and vivid. No need to say “I remember” when the memory itself cues us in.
Pro tip: If you struggle with showing emotion on the page, the Emotion Thesaurus is an indispensable resource!
When Filter Words Help More Than They Hurt
Yes, you can keep them. If they serve a purpose.
1. To create distance in intense moments
Sometimes, a moment is so raw that you want a little emotional distance. Filter words can help tone down overwhelming emotion.
Think of it as a buffer—just enough space so readers can catch their breath.
2. To signal a POV shift
In multi-POV stories, a subtle “he thought” or “she noticed” can help orient the reader. Especially if we’re just stepping into a new character’s perspective.
Consider this example from The Discovery of Witches:
So that’s the formidable historian, he thought wryly, mentally going over her vita. Even after looking at her picture, Matthew expected Bishop to be older, given her professional accomplishments. Diana Bishop’s back was straight and her shoulders square, in spite of her apparent agitation. Perhaps she would not be as easy to intimidate as he had hoped.
These filter words clarify POV and they reveal character. Matthew is someone sarcastic, observant, and clearly used to having the upper hand.
How to Avoid Filter Words in Writing
You don’t need to worry about them in the first draft.
Let them sit. They’re handy placeholders that mark where something emotional or sensory happens. You’ll revisit them in your line edits.
Getting Rid of Your Filter Words
1. Search and highlight
Search your manuscript for the most common filter words (like “saw,” “felt,” “thought,” etc.). You don’t have to fix every single one. Simply highlight them for now.
You can also use tools like ProWritingAid or AutoCrit to help you find common filter words in your manuscript.
2. Ask yourself: do I need this?
For each instance, ask:
Is this word serving a purpose?
Does it add clarity or tone?
Could I rephrase the sentence for a more direct experience?
3. Rephrase the sentence
You have a few options here:
Delete the filter word and lightly tweak the sentence
Example: “She realized she was late” → “She was late.”
Recast with specificity
Example: “I saw students flooding the quad” → “Nearly 30,000 students rippled across the quad in a steady wave.”
Use figurative language
Example: “I felt angry” → “Anger cascaded through me so intensely I could taste it.”
And remember: the goal isn’t perfection. Just progress.
Filter Words Aren’t the Enemy
They’re not evil. They’re just tools—and like any tool, they work best when used with intention.
I still use filter words in my drafts. To me, they’re like yellow highlighters: little flags pointing to where I need to unpack more emotion, sharpen the setting, or deepen the character’s experience.
When you revise:
Spot the filter words.
Ask if they serve the scene.
Keep the ones that help.
Cut or rephrase the rest.
The more you practice, the more intuitive this becomes. You’ll start skipping them entirely in your drafts without even thinking about it.
And if a few still sneak in? That’s exactly what editing is for.
