“Felt”: why it distances readers, and when to keep it
“She felt afraid” tells readers about a feeling. Showing the fear lets them share it.
A writing guide from Plainhand
“Felt” is what editors call a filter word: it routes an experience through a report of the character's perception. Instead of the reader experiencing the cold, the fear, or the relief, they're told that someone else did. It's one small step back, and in a scene that's supposed to be immediate, one step is a lot.
Feelings: show what the emotion does
When “felt” names an emotion, the fix is to show what the emotion makes a person do, notice, or fail to do.
Before
Maya felt nervous about the interview.
After
Maya read the same line of her résumé four times and still couldn't have told you what it said.
Before
He felt relieved when the call finally came.
After
When the phone lit up with her name, he sat down on the kitchen floor.
Neither rewrite uses the name of the emotion, and neither needs to. The behavior carries it, and readers trust what they work out for themselves more than what they're told.
Sensations: usually just cut the word
When “felt” describes a physical sensation, the fix is often simpler: delete the filter and let the sensation stand on its own.
Before
He felt the wind cut through his jacket.
After
The wind cut through his jacket.
Before
She felt the floor tilt as the ship rolled.
After
The floor tilted as the ship rolled.
In close point of view, readers already know whose skin the wind is cutting through. The word only repeats what the scene has established.
When “felt” belongs
- When the feeling is the surprise. “She felt nothing, and that frightened her more than the pain would have.” Here the act of feeling, or not feeling, is the point.
- When it means touch. “She felt along the wall for the switch” describes an action, not a perception, and has no cleaner substitute.
- In dialogue and strong voice. People say “I felt terrible about it” all the time, and characters should sound like people.
- When speed matters more than immersion. In a quick transition, “He felt better by morning” can be exactly right.
“I feel that” in essays
Nonfiction has its own version. “I feel that the policy fails students” frames an argument as a mood, which makes it easy to dismiss. State the claim, then support it.
Before
I feel that the new schedule is unfair to part-time students.
After
The new schedule is unfair to part-time students: every required course now meets during working hours.
Finding it in your draft
Search for “felt,” “feel,” and “feeling.” For each one, try the sentence without it. If nothing is lost, cut it. If the sentence collapses, ask what the character would do or notice instead, and write that.
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