Jeremy D Vance Author

          When I began writing creatively two years ago, I was a full-on Pantser.  (A Pantser writes by the seat of their pants with little planning beforehand.). I sat down to write a contemporary novel about an autistic child who aspires to win an art contest and only had a vague sense of direction. I did not finish for other reasons, but part of it was running out of ideas/scenes.       Now I attribute some of this to my inexperience but also to not enough planning ahead of writing. This doesn’t mean everyone has to plan like me, for there are authors who really make Pantsing work. I only found that I need a more firm sense of what I’ll put into my novels/stories.       Planning for me involves filling out multiple character sheets for my MC as well as digging deep on worldbuilding since I’m working on a Sci-fi YA novel right now. I’m also progressing on a worksheet detailing the 15 beat structure of Save the Cat originated by Blake Snyder for screenplays. It has been qui

           Imagine a juicy, sirloin steak laying on a plate, waiting for you.  As you step nearer, your mouth waters as tender strips of meat fill your mind. Before you reach it, someone steps in front of you to strike up a conversation. Over his shoulder, the wonderful steak awaits, but you can’t enjoy its goodness until this person leaves.      In a similar way, a filter word gets in the way of the story by having you see, know, feel , and experience the world through a character’s eyes. Writers can default to these filter words often in a first draft. The author then should root them out and replace them with action during revision.       Now I indicated a few of these filter words with the previous italics. Let me expand the list for you.  Know See  Experience  Feel Notice Note Seem Taste Like Smell Thought Remember  Sense       This is not an exhaustive list. Peruse the web to add to the list if you so desire. Let’s dive into a few examples to unpack what fil