After putting my writing on hold for several weeks, I decided to jump back in. I expected to find all sorts of problems with my story–inconsistencies in the plot, lack of transitions, poor characterization–the works. But what began to stick out to me was something to which I’d given little thought in writing.
Filter words.
What are Filter Words?
Actually, I didn’t even know these insidious creatures had a name until I started combing the internet for info.
Filter words are those that unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view. Dark Angel’s Blog says:
“Filtering” is when you place a character between the detail you want to present and the reader. The term was started by Janet Burroway in her book On Writing.
In terms of example, you should watch out for:
- To see
- To hear
- To think
- To touch
- To wonder
- To realize
- To watch
- To look
- To seem
- To feel (or feel like)
- Can
- To decide
- To sound (or sound like)
- To know
I’m being honest when I say my manuscript is filled with these words, and the majority of them need to be edited out.
What do Filter Words Look Like?
Let’s imagine a character in your novel is walking down a street during peak hour.
You might, for example, write:
Sarah felt a sinking feeling as she realized she’d forgotten her purse back at the cafe across the street. She saw cars filing past, their bumpers end-to-end. She heard the impatient honk of horns and wondered how she could quickly cross the busy road before someone took off with her bag. But the traffic seemed impenetrable, and she decided to run to the intersection at the end of the block.
Eliminating the bolded words removes the filters that distances us, the readers, from this character’s experience:
Sarah’s stomach sank. Her purse—she’d forgotten it back at the cafe across the street. Cars filed past, their bumpers end-to-end. Horns honked impatiently. Could she make it across the road before someone took off with her bag? She ran past the impenetrable stream of traffic, toward the intersection at the end of the block.
Are Filter Words Ever Acceptable?
Of course, there are usually exceptions to every rule.
Just because filter words tend to be weak doesn’t mean they never have a place in our writing. Sometimes they are helpful and even necessary.
Susan Dennard of Let The Words Flow writes that we should use filter words when they are critical to the meaning of the sentence.
If there’s no better way to phrase something than to use a filter word, then it’s probably okay to do so.
Want to know more?
Read these other helpful articles on filter words and more great writing tips:
Tag: rp tools
just wondering but why is unfollowing seen as such a huge thing on tumblr? it’s really really not. like, if someone annoys you? unfollow them. don’t post things you particularly like/care about? unfollow them. hate on your interests? unfollow them! who fucking cares! it’s not like you said you hated them, this is a dumbass social media site just like twitter and instagram.
you don’t always need some grand reason to unfollow/block someone. it’s not that deep.
if i see any of you do replies in this font imma fight
Respect Your RP Partners
Something I’ve noticed in the RP community is that we expect our RP partners to be writing machines. We expect them to churn out a reply almost immediately after we post ours, be on when we are, always send us memes, et cetera. Here’s the thing: our RP partners are not machines. They are human beings who need to be respected for more than their ability to write. Other than the usual “your RP partners may not feel like replying at the moment,” here are some things to respect them for, and remember when you’re RPing:
- Respect that your RP partner may be in school.
- Respect that your RP partner may be employed.
- Respect that your RP partner may have at least one physical illness.
- Respect that your RP partner may have at least one mental illness.
- Respect that your RP partner may have friends outside of tumblr.
- Respect that your RP partner may have a family outside of tumblr.
- Respect that your RP partner may be a parent.
- Respect that your RP partner may have hobbies outside of tumblr.
- Respect that your RP partner may have religious obligations.
- Respect that your RP partner may not always have internet, or computer access.
- Respect that your RP partner may be going through a difficult life situation.
- Respect that your RP partner does not have to disclose everything happening in their personal life to you.
Too often, it’s easy to say “no one RPs with me” or “no one ships with me” or “no one sends me anything” without considering any of the above, or even more circumstances your RP partner(s) may be dealing with. Too often, it’s easy to say one of those things, and not consider how the other person feels when reading it. Someone dealing with at least one of these circumstances can feel guilty for not replying right away, sending something, et cetera, or feel like they have to once they see their partner is unhappy.
I know I do when I see things like that on my dash.
When you start feeling guilty for not doing something that is part of your hobby, or feeling like you have to do something that is supposed to be fun, it stops being fun. It feels like a job. I know when I feel obligated to do a reply for a person, I drag my feet. I do not feel excited about the RP as much anymore. Even if they say, “Sure, I’ll wait,” I see them post elsewhere that no one sends them things, or no one RPs with them. The guilt turns on. I feel like I have to reply. It’s a passive-aggressive tactic that a person may not even be aware that they’re doing. No matter what, though, it needs to stop.
All in all, we need to show more kindness and patience towards our RP partners. The best relationships I have on this website are the ones where we treat each other with not only that, but with mutual respect. We also communicate regularly, and tell each other if we need to hold onto replies. I feel relieved knowing I can go to my RP partners, and tell them to hold onto my replies because I’m not feeling well, and I don’t know when I will be. It is an amazing feeling. We need more of that on this website, and less expecting one another to be robots.
We are all human. Never forget that.
“I will not roleplay with you if you don’t have rules. If your theme is so convoluted that I cannot find the link to your rules, despite the fact that I know that there must be some tiny ass pic-link somewhere that will take me to them, I will not follow you. DO NOT SACRIFICE YOUR IMPORTANT LINKS FOR A PRETTY THEME. This isn’t a game of ‘Where’s Waldo?’. Make your links CLEAR.“
“Can we PLEASE stop using tiny text in a tiny box for our blog themes? Some of us would like to have an easy time READING your stuff… Really, I will always prefer “boring but readable” over “aesthetic, but you need a microscope and three scroll wheels to read the damn threads”.“
Antis: We wANt tO PRotEcT CsA suRVivORs!!!!!
Also antis:
- Throw the word pedophilia around so liberally its lost all meaning
- Trivialize real pedophilia to the extent people no longer take claims seriously
- Force people to divulge their traumas for the sake of ‘justifying’ shipping something
- Promote a false rhetoric regarding what pedophilia consists of
- Suggest fictional shipping is on par to real life CSA and real trauma
- Create an overall perfect environment for predators to target minors through warping the meaning of pedophilia and leaving kids vulnerable and naive to the world around them
- Groom kids into harassing others online
no icon included because this is from the bottom of my heart and something so very.. well it pisses me the fuck off.
this pattern of hate, of sharing your very unwanted opinion unto others who are here simply to enjoy themselves needs to stop. i am tired of at least once, twice (as of late, many times) a day seeing somebody receiving hate, or being shamed for something so stupid such as writing their otp, for interacting with someone you don’t like, etc. allow me to tell you, a guy who very rarely involves themselves in drama, or in anything that could be mistaken as such, that it is so fucking disgusting. you are entitled to have your opinion, as a human (not that i consider you one) you’re very naturally going to have one and that’s okay! however projecting your negativity onto someone who is just as, if not more human than you, is wrong.
i don’t care who you are, your background, your past, i don’t care, you have no right to make another human feel any less than they might already. you don’t know what they are dealing with, their personal life could be unfathomable. they could be standing on the threshold of life and death, yet you feel that it is your right to be a dick because you don’t agree, or are having a bad day? it’s hard enough looking in the mirror at times, they don’t need your bullshit to add to their anxiety, their depression, or whatever they’re coping with.
as for the people who have recently received hate, or negativity for something so simple as writing a character who, doesn’t even fucking exist by the way, i love you. i respect that while i might not always agree with your opinions, or ships, or whatever, you are a person, a living, breathing, person that deserves nothing less than to have a safe space to write whatever the hell you want because again. these characters don’t exist, we’re all playing pretend and sorry to break the illusion, but it’s the truth. and i am proud of you, for, despite all of the recent hate, the negativity in this community, sticking around because i love seeing each of your on my dash.
you guys are my family and if i could reach out to each of you, to help you guys, i would, but since i can’t, know that i’m always here for you. for any of you. because i am disgusted and so disappointed in any of you who have been involved in spreading negativity, hate, or drama. grow up, we’re not perfect, we’re here to be accepted, to share our love of gay ninja’s together and not to shame each other.
so here’s a little bit of common sense:
Q: “ but foster, i don’t like that ship “
A: “ unfollow that user, or blacklist their tag for that ship “Q: “ but foster, they write something that i find offensive, or that triggers me “
A: “ unfollow, blacklist, or block them because last i remembered that’s a thing “Q: “ but foster, i don’t like them “
A: :))))) “ unfollow them, block them, but keep your opinions to yourself “simple, easy, tumblr hack. hard to believe it’s just as easy as pressing a fucking button made available to you? well now you know.
i could write, and rant all day, but please. i don’t care who you are, i don’t care if you are the angriest, most bitter fuck that this world has ever seen, do not hurt people for your own gain. for your own selfish desire to tear other people down to your level because as someone who used to be angry all-the-time, it only makes it worse. i think the phrase goes: two wrongs don’t make a right, or something? apply that to your life, because if you really think that what they’re doing is wrong, then sending them hate, which we all know is wrong, wont make it any better.
If you can’t tell the difference between what is real and what is fiction and think that something is okay to do in real life because you saw it in some damn story, you need to go to fucking therapy or not consume fiction that is beyond your capabilities to consume.
legit i’m so tired of fucking…. people being ashamed of liking certain ships and being afraid of being attacked for it
this is coming from me, and as i’ve mentioned several times, i hugely do not like most ships. it can go from “vague dislike but manageable” to “even considering it makes me upset and i have to step back and handle myself before i do something dumb” and it’s a wide fucking scale in between.
that doesn’t mean that anyone else is wrong for liking any of those ships. they. are. fictional. fiction is not reality. it is fine to be uncomfortable with ships for really any reason, but the moment you go from disliking a ship to attacking someone else because they like it? no, you’ve crossed a line, you do not do that.
what someone likes in fiction does not reflect how they are as a person in real life. you do not get to make moral judgements on a person for simply liking some pairing that you don’t like, regardless of the reason why you don’t like it.
you shouldn’t be scared to talk about+make content for a pairing you like. it’s your business, not anyone else’s. you should be allowed to feel happy and enjoy fandom without being afraid of some awful kind of backlash.
UchihaSavior 