Sometimes distance is good. When I've spent all
day cooking and my husband stops off on the way home for fast food, a little
distance is more beneficial than argument. But when, as writers, we allow distance between
our characters and our reader, that’s not good.
Last week during my blog
travels, I found this wonderful post by Cynthia Chapman Willis about filter
words. Filter words are words that filter the reader’s experience through a
character’s point of view. They tell instead of letting the reader experience.
The timing of finding that post was perfect. You see, one of the critiques that I received on my
current WIP pointed out an embarrassing number of uses of the word “feel.” The
thing about filter words is that I know about them, or some of them, anyway.
See, hear, and look tend to jump out at me. After reading Cynthia’s post I
discovered that there are many more. And they've found their way into my writing.
I made a list of these culprits on a Post-It note and stuck it to
the side of my computer monitor. Then I went through my manuscript, and using
the find and highlight features in MS Word, I used different colors to
mark every use of the words see, hear, feel, think, realize, watch, look, seem,
know, and sound. (I just discovered that touch, wonder, can, decide, notice, and
experience are part of the group as well. I guess I know what I’ll be doing
this week.)
When I was done, my manuscript looked more like a child's board game than a YA story. Of course, not every use of these words is taboo;
at times a little distance is needed, and sometimes the particular word choice may be
right for the voice of the story. As I go through and rework things, I have the satisfaction of knowing that my story is being made stronger, I’m
tightening the gap between my characters and future readers. My pages are starting to look less like an art lesson and more like interesting reading. And
hopefully, my heightened awareness for filter words will make me a better
writer.
Is there one (or more) of these words that you
struggle to weed from your own writing?
