Filter Words in Fiction: What to Cut, What to Keep, and Why

Should you cut words like saw, felt, heard, realised, and remembered from your fiction? Often, yes. Always? Not even slightly. In this episode of Master Fiction Writing, Stuart breaks down why so-called filter words and mental-processing verbs get flagged so often, how they can weaken immediacy and increase psychic distance, and why the advice to remove them can become unhelpfully rigid when treated as a rule rather than a craft decision. You’ll learn the difference between lazy filtering and purposeful usage, when these words genuinely flatten prose, when they’re necessary, and when they can actually strengthen voice, pacing, and emotional effect. With practical examples, revision guidance, and a more nuanced way to assess your own pages, this episode will help you stop editing by superstition and start editing with discernment.