What's a filter?

I've read several threads here on filtering, and learned a lot from them. Although I noticed it sometimes, I didn't know what it was called until I read those threads.

Like any technique in writing, it has its place. Basically, as a reader if I don't notice it, it works. When I do notice it, it doesn't work. As a writer, I use it very little and nobody has yet asked for more ("You know what you need here? Some FILTERING!). The hard part is knowing if and in what circumstances it will work for the readers. I don't have a simple formula for that, unfortunately.

Thanks RT! That was probably going to be one of my next newbie questions. Now that I know what it is, I'm going back over my work to see how bad it is.

Chris P said:

You know what you need here? Some FILTERING!

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I lol'd. I hope you write just like that.

Filtering per se is not criminal but excessive filtering can be intrusive and weaken the POV.

It's usually a lack of understanding of POV that is the root cause of excessive filtering.

If you are in someone's POV (say Third Person Limited using George) it is not necessary to keep telling me George saw this or felt that or heard this etc.. That is the narrator explaining to me that George is feeling or seeing or hearing something, but if I know the story is being told using George's POV it is not necessary to 'filter' his actions and observations through yourself (the narrator) like that.

If I know I'm in George's POV then I also know everything that is mentioned must be either heard or seen etc., by George because unless and until George hears or sees or otherwise becomes aware of something it cannot be mentioned at all.

Stating what was heard is usually perfectly sufficient of itself without the filtering preamble of - George heard.... In George's POV, George must have heard it .

Filtering of itself is just another tool -but one should be aware when one is using it because careless and excessive filtering can be intrusive and distancing and weaken the POV.


ETA. There is a Google Custom Search box to the left at the bottom of these posts and below the Bookmarks Box. Pop any phrase in there such as 'What's filtering?' or 'What does Filtering mean?- and a whole list of relative threads will pop up. The higher the reference number- the more recent the post. It's a helpful little tool to quickly check something.

R. T James A question I had rotting on my mind until I found this..

Disclaimer I have nothing to do with this website I just found it as the first google hit!

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I rather like being in the Rolls...

Furnace filters? I LOVE FURNACE FILTERS

Really. I have a reusable one. Send me a PM for the info.

For me, I have a problem using filtering phrases. I think I avoid them pretty well, for the most part, unless I'm writing at midnight and can't see my computer anymore. Then I start saying stupid stuff like, "He looked a the mirror and then he smelled the roses and then he felt the cushion and then he..." Backspace backspace backspace

But I have a few questions. What about when you say someone noticed something. It seems like I do that a lot. Here's a quick example from my writ: "Tim noticed with apprehension their feet clad in wicked looking metal talons." That sounds like a filtering phrase, because I'm telling them what Tim notices, instead of just pointing out the wicked looking metal talons. But I also threw apprehension in there, which is why I personally think this is fine as is, unless someone has a better suggestion.

Sage said:

Ah, but MrV, you could show Tim's apprehension, rather than telling it. What is his actual reaction to those metal talons? While we're at it, what makes them so "wicked-looking"?

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Well, I'm still working on the whole 'show vs. tell' thing as well. So per your suggestion, this is what I come up with. Honestly, I don't know that it actually sounds any better, just to remove a filter...

The fact that their feet were clad in metal armor that held a wickedly sharp talon affixed to each appendage caused him apprehension.

Thanks,
MrV

No one has said that filters are "the bane of all existence to the point where we must purge them from the face of this world".

But being aware of them and understanding their distancing effect can make you a better writer.

MisterV said:

The fact that their feet were clad in metal armor that held a wickedly sharp talon affixed to each appendage caused him apprehension.

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You've rearranged the sentence, but you're still telling us he's apprehensive without showing it.

How is his apprehension manifesting? (frex: Are his palms clammy? Is his heart beating faster? Are his shoulders tight? Does his breath hitch?)

I'm glad this came up because now I have a name for the thing I've recently noticed in my drafts. Usually I am able to fix any problems resulting from it with a few rounds of editing, but it's so nice to have picked up on a distinct, fixable pattern rather than just having a general, uneasy sense of something sucking and hoping that maybe this​ edit will fix it.

I feel so proud of myself for noticing.

I see filtering often called a "distancing" effect in narrative. I've really never thought of it in that way. To me, as reader, it's a diluting and energy-reducing effect.

caw

Sage said:

Another option, MrV, is to have his direct mental reaction to the talons. As an example, "Holy hell, if one of them kicked him, the metal talons on their boots would rip into his skin like it was paper!" would show us what he thought about them AND that he's noticed them a lot better than "noticing with apprehension."

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Yup.

Sage said:

As Helix says, not all filtering needs to be killed with fire. There are times when you do need to note that a character is specifically noticing or seeing something. Sometimes you want to put in beats or rhythm provided by phrasing things in certain ways. A single instance of filtering in pages and pages isn't a huge problem, even if it could be stronger by avoiding the filtering. But usually if someone doesn't know what filtering is or what it looks like, they're probably doing too much of it.

Likewise, choosing to tell things rather than show them is fine from time to time, and even preferred occasionally. However, if you can't pinpoint what elements in your writing are telling or how to remedy that, you're likely overdoing it.

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Same goes for passive phrasing and adverbs IMO. They have their place, but it's important to understand why and when to deploy them.

I've been noticing this in my first drafts, so I'm trying to fix it as I edit the story am currently working on. Question: is it still filtering if I say something like a character turned to face another character (for example, they were looking at the view in front of them. And then they turn to each other to talk)? If I remove 'turn' and just go straight to them talking, would it still be clear that they moved or are now facing each other? Or maybe it doesn't really matter?

You pretty near answered yourself.

It's nothing to do with filtering. If you don't narrate an action how am I supposed to know it happened? ETA- Re Maryn's excellent post below, there are many actions that don't warrant mentioning.

But the main issue is, as you say, - is it worth mentioning or not? Content and context will guide me in whether or not I think they're looking at one another- it's normal to do so.

Maybe you would want to relate their actions if they were deliberately NOT looking at each other- avoiding doing so for some reason.

Up to you.

Freya Yuki said:

I've been noticing this in my first drafts, so I'm trying to fix it as I edit the story am currently working on. Question: is it still filtering if I say something like a character turned to face another character (for example, they were looking at the view in front of them. And then they turn to each other to talk)? If I remove 'turn' and just go straight to them talking, would it still be clear that they moved or are now facing each other? Or maybe it doesn't really matter?

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Chris P said:

As a writer, I use it very little and nobody has yet asked for more ("You know what you need here? Some FILTERING!). The hard part is knowing if and in what circumstances it will work for the readers. I don't have a simple formula for that, unfortunately.

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I don't use many filters either, since I shoot for a rather "deep," directly from the here and now of the pov character form of third person or first. No one has ever come out and asked me to use more, but I have been asked for them obliquely. One reader (a successful writer with rather a lot of knowledge about technique) asked me if a perception or opinion was coming from the narrator or the character. So either I wasn't deep enough to make it clear I was writing in limited third (and every narrative observation or statement of fact was what the pov character thought or felt), or that person doesn't care for the technique.

This is the kind of thing that still gives me fits as a writer--how to know when someone is bothered by something I've written stylistically because it's their taste or because I'm not employing the style as well as I should be (or if it not the best style for the story at hand).

In short, writing books and most authors and editors who blog about craft advise us to cut filters (those words that come between the reader and narrative and remind the reader that the character feels, sees, hears, thinks etc) whenever possible, especially if we're writing in first or limited third (but the advice is often given in a very general sort of way, so it applies to omniscient too). Yet there are published writers who use filters quite a lot, often in places where they're not (in my opinion) needed for clarity and actually come between me and the character. I didn't used to notice their use, but since I've been studying craft more intensely, I definitely do (I can eventually get used to this style, though, if it's smooth and the story and characterization are intriguing enough). It seems like they've come back into fashion recently, as most of the recently published books I've read, especially in third, use them a lot more than I do.

Freya Yuki said:

I've been noticing this in my first drafts, so I'm trying to fix it as I edit the story am currently working on. Question: is it still filtering if I say something like a character turned to face another character (for example, they were looking at the view in front of them. And then they turn to each other to talk)? If I remove 'turn' and just go straight to them talking, would it still be clear that they moved or are now facing each other? Or maybe it doesn't really matter?

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I wouldn't call that filtering, but it might be unnecessary in places. A certain amount of postural and environmental detail is useful "in flow," since it can attribute dialog and provide clues about the setting or character personality/appearance without stopping everything to describe it in detail. But sometimes these little stage directions aren't needed, and can even become intrusive. As a rule, I'd assume one character turns towards someone she is speaking to.

Stage directions might be quite handy be if she's doing something else that answering interrupts, however, or if it provides context or characterization (Sue answered without looking up from her book, or Sue stared down at her folded hands for a moment, then slowly turned towards me, as if she hadn't noticed I was there).

be frank said:

You've rearranged the sentence, but you're still telling us he's apprehensive without showing it.

How is his apprehension manifesting? (frex: Are his palms clammy? Is his heart beating faster? Are his shoulders tight? Does his breath hitch?)

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Sage said:

Another option, MrV, is to have his direct mental reaction to the talons. As an example, "Holy hell, if one of them kicked him, the metal talons on their boots would rip into his skin like it was paper!" would show us what he thought about them AND that he's noticed them a lot better than "noticing with apprehension."

As Helix says, not all filtering needs to be killed with fire. There are times when you do need to note that a character is specifically noticing or seeing something. Sometimes you want to put in beats or rhythm provided by phrasing things in certain ways. A single instance of filtering in pages and pages isn't a huge problem, even if it could be stronger by avoiding the filtering. But usually if someone doesn't know what filtering is or what it looks like, they're probably doing too much of it.

Likewise, choosing to tell things rather than show them is fine from time to time, and even preferred occasionally. However, if you can't pinpoint what elements in your writing are telling or how to remedy that, you're likely overdoing it.

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be frank said:

Yup.



Same goes for passive phrasing and adverbs IMO. They have their place, but it's important to understand why and when to deploy them.

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Awesome advise folks, thanks!

Bufty said:

You pretty near answered yourself.

It's nothing to do with filtering. If you don't narrate an action how am I supposed to know it happened? ETA- Re Maryn's excellent post below, there are many actions that don't warrant mentioning.

But the main issue is, as you say, - is it worth mentioning or not? Content and context will guide me in whether or not I think they're looking at one another- it's normal to do so.

Maybe you would want to relate their actions if they were deliberately NOT looking at each other- avoiding doing so for some reason.

Up to you.

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Thanks. Re: bolded part- that was what I was worried about. I'll have to look through my draft again and make sure I'm not showing all the characters' actions.

Maryn said:

I wouldn't call that filtering, Freya, so much as unnecessary choreography. Consider:

Maryn dozed on the sofa but roused at the sound of the doorbell. She sat up and swung her legs to the ground, then stood and walked across the floor to the door, opening it with the brass knob. Her sister stood on the porch. "What do you want now?" Maryn said.

versus

Maryn dozed on the sofa but roused at the sound of the doorbell. Her sister stood on the porch. "What do you want now?" Maryn said.

You probably don't need to know exactly how I got up, reached the door, and opened it, right? The reader will assume your character does things the normal way, like facing the person to whom they're speaking, unless you say otherwise.

Maryn, who wishes her sister had dropped in

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Thanks for this example. In some parts of my draft, I ended up doing something like your first example. When I considered doing something like the second example, I worried that I didn't explain everything fully, like something was missing (like, for instance, in the 1st sentence of your example, she gets up at the sound of the doorbell. And then the 2nd sentence jumps straight to her sister standing on the porch).

Roxxsmom said:

I wouldn't call that filtering, but it might be unnecessary in places. A certain amount of postural and environmental detail is useful "in flow," since it can attribute dialog and provide clues about the setting or character personality/appearance without stopping everything to describe it in detail. But sometimes these little stage directions aren't needed, and can even become intrusive. As a rule, I'd assume one character turns towards someone she is speaking to.

Stage directions might be quite handy be if she's doing something else that answering interrupts, however, or if it provides context or characterization (Sue answered without looking up from her book, or Sue stared down at her folded hands for a moment, then slowly turned towards me, as if she hadn't noticed I was there).

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Thanks. What if, for example, the character is busy doing something (like fighting with someone) and then, when there's a bit of a break in the fighting, he turns to look somewhere else (he's noticed that someone has arrived to watch the fight or something like that). I guess in this instance, it would be all right to say something like, "He turned to the side and saw..." or maybe something like, "He turned to the side. A woman had arrived..." or something?

A lot hinges on what POV you are using. What POV are you using?

He turned to the side and saw- maybe that's what happened, but it's dull and vague. 'Turned and saw' doesn't really give much of an image.

If something catches his attention - that's what you should focus on. If he's sitting on his chair or whatever, cut straight to the event or commotion that caught his attention. If you are in 'his' POV we know he is seeing or hearing the commotion or whatever because if he hasn't heard it or noticed it you can't mention it at all.

Freya Yuki said:

...


Thanks. What if, for example, the character is busy doing something (like fighting with someone) and then, when there's a bit of a break in the fighting, he turns to look somewhere else (he's noticed that someone has arrived to watch the fight or something like that). I guess in this instance, it would be all right to say something like, "He turned to the side and saw..." or maybe something like, "He turned to the side. A woman had arrived..." or something?

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MisterV said:

Well, I'm still working on the whole 'show vs. tell' thing as well. So per your suggestion, this is what I come up with. Honestly, I don't know that it actually sounds any better, just to remove a filter...

The fact that their feet were clad in metal armor that held a wickedly sharp talon affixed to each appendage caused him apprehension.

Click to expand...

You are still telling me his feelings - apprehension - which is still filtering. And "caused him apprehension" ... very inactive passive voice.

"Holy hell, if one of them kicked him, the metal talons on their boots would rip into his skin like it was paper!" would show us what he thought about them AND that he's noticed them a lot better than "noticing with apprehension."

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Yup ... that's very direct and my skin flinches in solidarity with that character's skin.