Filter Words In Fiction: Writing Closer to Your Characters

Want to pull your readers deeper into your story? One of the most powerful craft choices can be eliminating filter words—those words that create distance between your reader and your character’s experience. By revising them out, we bring readers closer to the action, letting them experience the story alongside our characters in real time. The result? More vivid, immersive passages that keeps readers turning pages.

What Are Filter Words?

Filter words affect the reader’s experience by “filtering” it through the act of perceiving or thinking. They remind us that a character is observing, sensing, or processing something, rather than letting us experience it directly alongside them.

With filter: She heard the thunder crash overhead.

Without filter: Thunder crashed overhead.

In the second version, we’re right there in the moment. We don’t need to be told she heard it—we’re in her point of view, so of course she heard it!

Common Filter Words to Watch For

Here’s a list of the ones I see the most:

• see | saw/seen

• hear | heard

• feel | felt/could feel

• notice | noticed

• watch | watched

• observe | observed

• realize | realized

• think | thought

• wonder | wondered

• know | knew

• understand | understood

• seem/seems | seemed/seemed like

• appear/appears | appeared

• looks like | looked like

• sounds like | sounded like

• smells like | smelled like

• tastes like | tasted like

• decides | decided

• consider | considers | considered

• believe | believes | believed

• imagine | imagined

• remember | remembered

• forget | forgot

Why Eliminating Filter Words Matters

When we remove filter words, something magical happens: the prose becomes more immediate and sensory. Instead of being told about a character’s experience, readers live it with them.

Filtered: He noticed the acrid smell of smoke and realized the building was on fire.

Direct: Smoke—acrid and choking. The building was on fire.

The second version pulls us into the character’s panic. We’re not watching them notice things; we’re noticing them with them.

When Filter Words Actually Work

Here’s the thing: Not all filter words need to be eliminated. Sometimes, they serve a purpose. Use them when:

• You want to emphasize the act of perception itself. She watched him leave, memorizing every detail. This sentence emphasizes her deliberate observation.

• You need to show uncertainty. It seemed like hours. This sentence conveys the character’s subjective experience of time.

• The character is actively trying to process something. He realized, with sinking dread, that he’d left his phone at the restaurant. Here, the moment of realization is emphasized.

How to Spot Filter Words in Your Writing

During revision, search for these words in your manuscript. When you find one, ask yourself: Does this word add something meaningful, or is it just creating distance? Can I cut it and show the experience more directly?

Obviously, not every instance needs to go, but you’ll likely find many places where removing the filter makes your prose stronger, sharper, and more engaging.

The Bottom Line

Filter words aren’t inherently bad—they’re just often unnecessary. By cutting them where they don’t serve a purpose, we give readers direct access to the universe we’ve developed. We invite them to see, hear, feel, and experience everything alongside the characters we’ve created.

And that’s where the magic of fiction lives: in those unfiltered moments of connection.