I’m going to cheat a bit today. I covered this topic in more detail here a couple of years ago. This will be a condensed version of that post, but feel free to go back and read the more detailed explanation with more examples. It’s an archived post behind a paywall, so you’ll have to be a paid subscriber to access the whole thing.
Maybe that’s a good reason to hit this button:
What is a filter?
A filter is when the writer tells the reader what the character experiences through filtering words, particularly senses and thoughts.
The most basic form of a filter is when the writer tells the reader that a character sees, hears, smells, feels (as in the sense of touch), or tastes something. A related, and slightly more nuanced filter, is when the writer tells the reader that a character notices, realizes, understands, recognizes, or feels (as in an emotion) something.
If the scene is clearly grounded in the character’s point-of-view, readers don’t need to be told the…
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