filtering!!! wat u think?

[AetherialCore]

do you mind filtering in the prose?

if you don't know what filtering is: it is when the author writes the situation happening in the novel through the characters eyes, using unnecessary words, instead of describing the situation directly to the reader.

for example.
this is a scene with filtering: The man turned his gaze to the hood of the car. He saw smoke rising from it. Thinking the car was about to explode, he jumped out.
this is a scene without filtering: The man turned his gaze to the hood of the car. Smoke was rising from it. The car might be about to explode. He jumped out.

back to the question. many professional authors—and probably readers and editors—have stated that filtering is a bad writing.
so, what do you think. do you mind writing/reading filtered prose?

 

[melchi]

The second sentence is shorter and just as good so I'd pick that one.

If a really limited perspective is needed why not just go first person?

 

[AetherialCore]

If a really limited perspective is needed why not just go first person?

probably style and preference. but if it's a novel with a lot of perspective switches, then third is preferable to me.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

The second sentence is shorter and just as good so I'd pick that one.

If a really limited perspective is needed why not just go first person?

Because we don't want to go off showing first person POV, Yet.

The world isn't divided by black and white, and making point of view isn't limited with just limited first person and omniscient third person.

Sometimes author may want to use some other point of view to show their character in different light, showing different aspects, or just highlighting things that may be hidden from readers.

But there are things that were hard to show or even tell from just first person POV. And author may not want to use Third person omniscient to avoid showing too much, or even avoiding spoiler.

Because of that reason, the solution is to show limited perspective to show what author wants to show/tell/highlights, but there's no repercussions of showing too much to reader because of the perspective limitations.

 

[LilRora]

I personally sometimes filter and sometimes don't.

Though honestly, I have to question why would filtering be bad writing. When a book is written without filtering at all, it feels inroganic, like an outside observer was blandly describing it. I feel filtering allows for much better expression and subjective narration, which adds dynamism and helps with conveying emotions.

As a side note, I'm pretty sure what you're calling writing without filtering is almost the same as behavioral storytelling (I'm not sure if that's the proper name), which is basically describing behavior of characters without revealing their inner thoughts. It can be good in some cases, but I would say it's just two different styles, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.

 

[AetherialCore]

When a book is written without filtering at all, it feels inroganic, like an outside observer was blandly describing it.

maybe characters' thoughts and emotions, but filtering is not needed when narrating information, i think.
"Smoke was rising from the hood of the car." is more concise and to-the-point than filtering the situation with "The man saw smoke rising from the hood of the car."

 

[LilRora]

maybe characters' thoughts and emotions, but filtering is not needed when narrating information, i think.
"Smoke was rising from the hood of the car." is more concise and to-the-point than filtering the situation with "The man saw smoke rising from the hood of the car."

Yes, that's why I wrote it is better in many situations, but it's just different. I was objecting to the second last paragraph, where you wrote that apparently many professional authors say it's bad writing.

 

[Lloyd]

You wrote your "non-filtering" sentence incorrectly.
'this is a scene without filtering: The man turned his gaze to the hood of the car. Smoke was rising from it. The car might be about to explode. He jumped out.'
It should be Smoke rose from it, not smoke was rising from it. That's the most egregious example, but I could reword it more if I wanted. Overall you're writing seems bad in general so do whichever one you want it won't really matter.

I JUST FILTERED THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!​

 

[Empyrea]

First person is the best person.

Otherwise, how could they be first?

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

First person is the best person.

Otherwise, how could they be first?

The narrator arrives before the character

 

[AetherialCore]

It should be Smoke rose from it, not smoke was rising from it.

past continuous exists?

addendum: and bruh you don't even know how to correctly write dialogue tags for your novel. is this a joke and i'm not getting the joke because i'm dumb or something? i'm waiting for the r/whoosh, then

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

The narrator arrives before the character

If the Narrator arrives inside the character, do you get fourth wall babies?

 

[K5Rakitan]

If the Narrator arrives inside the character, do you get fourth wall babies?

Only if you forget to use condom!

 

[Lloyd]

past continuous exists?

addendum: and bruh you don't even know how to correctly write dialogue tags for your novel. is this a joke and i'm not getting the joke because i'm dumb or something? i'm waiting for the r/whoosh, then

Yes you are dumb or something.
Now go back to reddit please.

 

[AetherialCore]

Yes you are dumb or something.
Now go back to reddit please.

No

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

After reading some quality books from respected authors I picked up certain things that could be done better in my writing. Filtering, I believe, is one of those things as now when discussing a certain object, event, or idea I don't have to associate my character to describe what it is or the action taking place. One of the biggest problems I found after re-reading some of my old work was that I made my character look, gaze, turn their head, etc., toward things before explaining what they were. Now, I just explain the object and can play off of whether my character saw it or not.

 

[MajorKerina]

This is an excellent example of going from filtering to non filtering - https://www.scribophile.com/academy/an-introduction-to-filtering

It makes sense to me. A lot of writers have this issue. I do too. You want to wrap the events around the characters but many things are understood without this addition.

 

[Lloyd]

This is an excellent example of going from filtering to non filtering - https://www.scribophile.com/academy/an-introduction-to-filtering

It makes sense to me. A lot of writers have this issue. I do too. You want to wrap the events around the characters but many things are understood without this addition.

You literally don't even know how to use non filtering though.

 

[Dearest_Violet]

I appreciate more prose if the situation requires the description to be impactful, but I understand that too much prose can bog a story down like nothing else.

Like everything in life, use it in moderation!

 

[AetherialCore]

You literally don't even know how to use non filtering though.