Filtering

"Filtering" is when the writer forces us to "look at rather than through" the point-of-view character's eyes.  So says Janet Burroway, author of eight novels and several books on creative writing, one of which is the most widely used text on the craft of writing fiction in the entire country. 

Filtering can inadvertently hold the reader at a distance, especially when working in a close 1st or 3rd-person point-of-view, and keeps the reader from sinking comfortably into the fictional dream.  One moment the reader is hunched over the POV character's shoulder, observing the world as if he is that character; seeing only what the character sees.  But stumble across a "filtered observation" and suddenly the reader finds himself looking at the character instead of with the character -- watching the character as the character watches something else.

In his book, The Art of Fiction, John Gardner refers to this as "the failure to run straight at an image; that is, the needless filtering of the image through some observing consciousness.  The amateur writes: 'Turning, she noticed two snakes fighting in among the rocks.' Compare: 'She turned.  In among the rocks, two snakes were fighting.' Generally speaking--though no laws are absolute in fiction--vividness urges that almost every occurrence of such phrases as "she noticed" and "she saw" be suppressed in favor of direct presentation of the thing seen."

The first time I read that paragraph by John Gardner I was totally confused.  But luckily there was Janet Burroway's  Writing Fiction, A Guide to Narrative Craft, to help clear up the confusion:

As Gardner says, no laws are absolute in fiction, but you may be surprised how much tighter, more in-the-moment, and vivid your writing becomes when you remove the filters.  Give the exercise below a shot and see if removing the filters doesn't improve the vividness and pace of your work-in-progress.

~
Janet Burroway's classic text, Writing Fiction, A Guide to Narrative Craft is available online at IndieBound and Amazon.

The Art of Fiction by John Gardner is available here.

International Plot Writing Month

Whoops... with all that was going on during the month of November (National Novel Writing Month, for instance) I completely neglected to post anything new in this blog.  Next week I'll post another writing exercise (the one about "filtering" in fiction that I mentioned in an earlier post on Beginning Writers).  But this week, because we're already ten days into December,  I wanted to let you know about something big going on this month over at Martha Alderson's blog on "plot".


As you know,  Martha is the Plot Whisperer, and on December 1st her website, Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers, officially launched the Second Annual International Plot Writing Month.  This month, guided by Martha, we take the 50,000 words we wrote during those frenetic days of November and learn how to craft them into "a coherent piece, worthy of publication."  Day by day, step by step, the Plot Whisperer guides us through a sort of re-thinking process -- no writing required :-).  She helps us sort through our unwieldy manuscripts to find the potentially well-told story within; to prepare ourselves for that second draft; and to ultimately, (beginning in January!) shape the words into a readable, enjoyable, and possibly even publishable final manuscript. 


"The first draft of any writing project is considered the generative phase. The muse is often responsible for much of the generative phase. The writer acts as a conduit and allows the inspiration to come through onto the page. The generative phase is all about getting the words on the page.

At the end of the generative phase, a writer is often faced with a manuscript full of holes and missteps, confusion and chaos. This is part of the process in that editing in the generative phase risks stifling the muse, which often results in stagnation.

When a writer completes the generative phase the real work begins—crafting the words into a coherent story."
[From: The Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers]

So if you have time, and you're ready to take your manuscript to the next level, hop over to the Plot Whisperer and check out International Plot Writing Month for yourself.  If you arrive late, and you will if you're just going there now, you can always scroll down and read through the earlier posts from December 1st onward. 


Good luck!
See you next week :-)


Leslie