Word Choice & Economy
Filter Words
Identify perception verbs that create unnecessary distance between the reader and the experience.
What It Does
Detects "filter words" — verbs like saw, heard, noticed, felt, realized, watched, knew — that place the narrator as an intermediary between the reader and the action. These words remind the reader they're observing through a character rather than experiencing directly.
Why It Matters
Filter words add a layer of narrative distance. Compare:
- Filtered: "She saw the door swing open."
- Direct: "The door swung open."
Both convey the same information, but the filtered version reminds the reader that a character is doing the seeing. The direct version drops the reader into the scene. Removing filter words is one of the fastest ways to strengthen prose.
What Gets Flagged
Perception Filter Verbs
Severity: Information
Example (flagged):
He noticed the glass was empty.
Why: "Noticed" filters the observation through the character. If we're in his POV, the reader already knows he's the one perceiving.
Suggested revision:
The glass was empty.
Common filter words detected:
| Word | Filtered version | Direct version |
|---|---|---|
| saw | She saw him cross the street | He crossed the street |
| heard | He heard the thunder rumble | Thunder rumbled |
| felt | She felt the cold wind | The cold wind bit through her jacket |
| noticed | He noticed a scratch on the door | A scratch ran along the door |
| realized | She realized it was too late | It was too late |
| watched | He watched the boat drift away | The boat drifted away |
Dialogue Awareness
The analyzer skips lines that contain dialogue (quoted text), since filter words in dialogue are natural speech patterns.
Configuration
No configuration options.
Technical Details
- Source:
prose-craft - Scope: Line-level (skips dialogue lines)
- Method: Regex matching for common perception/cognition verbs