How do you write Tone Shifts?

[TheBryceKrispy]

If a work of fiction is nothing but grim darkness, its misery porn. If a work of fiction is nothing but humor, its too goofy. The trick is to find a balance and not go to high. Sounds easy, right? Well, a sudden change in tone can suck, so I ask How do you do a tone shift? If you can, please use examples without spoiling anything. Positive and negative examples both work.

[sorrelyn]

Depends on the context, but I have one that bounces around a bit according to the main character's mood. It's not something you need to worry too much about as long as you do a gradual fade in, fade out, and keep it consistent. You should be aware that doing so will generally make the reader infer the mood of the character (if the character is narrating, that is) based on what their prose is like, so, try not to confuse them, you know?

[Hexigate]

There's so many ways you can affect the tone of the story, and there are differences between conveying tonal shifts in a comic and in a novel.

Dialogue can change the tone of the story through introducing and releasing tension. (By tension, I'm not only referring to conflict, but the concept of making audiences anticipate something.) This can be done by having a character learn something shocking, or delivering the punchline of a joke that started out with an ominous tone.

You can use the environment to shift tones too. Films do this all the time, and I'm sure you're aware of what I'm taking about: Rain means gloom; a bright day makes us happy or easy-going; A dark alleyway makes us suspicious and scared. As you move forward with the story, you can use the environment as a mirror of the character's emotions and affect the story's tone.

When the tone changes, it's dramatic and the audience notices. But there's going to be a "baseline" where your story's tone lies most of the time, with spikes and dips happening periodically. To copy Sorrelyn's comment, a story's tone is going to be consistent for the most part.