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Jul 2018

How would you write different tones? What are some good examples of different tones?

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    Jul '18
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    Jul '18
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I'd say the way to use different tones is to use word choice. Emotions change how you think, and the words that come out of your mouth change with the mood.
Let's say ... there's a cat right beside you.
I'll use 2 tones. One being overly excited, and the other being supremely irritated.
First tone:
"You know, there was this cat that sat by me while I was waiting for the bus last night. He had this really great fur pattern, and she was just so adorable I could've just plucked her off the streets and into my apartment!"

Second tone:
"You know, there was this cat that was beside me while I was waiting for the bus last night. The stupid cat kept butting my shoe, and clawed it as well! Honestly, the city should sweep up these cats and put them in the pound."

See what I mean?

Examples of different tones would be:

A scene where someone is dying could have a "sombre" or "miserable" tone.
A wedding scene will have a really exciting and joyful tone.
A "reunion" scene between two characters who haven't met in a while will feel nostalgic.

The way to achieve different tones is in the way you describe things - for example there are many different ways to say "said" or "walked" or "jumped". The word you choose will determine how the action "feels" to the audience - the emotion it gives off.

Also the pacing of your writing contributes to this... If you have a lot of dialogue and not a lot of movement then it gives the impression of tension - the reader anticipates movement happening so when it does happen it's exciting. If you have lots of movement and no dialogue things feel a bit more intense. It can be used to convey a really sad scene or a really violent scene with equal amounts of impact. The size and placement of your paragraphs also helps the pacing - making your reader stop after each impactful line really helps.

Just some tips. It never hurts to get into the real bare bones of writing. I highly recommend a trip to your local library - grab all the books you can find about writing and just go through 'em. Best way to learn in my opinion.

I see what you did there. I left it non-specific, just Tone in general. Can you please give an example of something with good Tone (in general)?

What's "good" tone for you?

Are you talking about how to include certain tones in your work?

Because tone can be found in most things, depending on how you use your word choice and what you're trying to convey to your audience.

It also depends on the actions and diague you give your characters based on the story's premise.

Even "technical and formal" academic works have a specific tone.

I'll interpret it as "how to set a constant tone".

I'd suggest reading Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green.
His tone throughout (well, most) of the book is this semi-detached, relaxed and yet rushed tone. If you want to see consistency, I suggest you read this.

I don't think there's such thing as "good" tone, only appropriate tone.
Tone comes from voice, which is created by style from skillful control of your writing. This means deliberately choosing your diction, syntax and sentence lengths while knowing the effect of each choice. Sometimes the tense of your writing even affects tone. When you get the hang of it, it will come naturally.
If you want to get an idea of "what creates what effect", reading some commentaries or poem and prose annotations (for a commentary) would be a great help. If you want to read some examples, I'd suggest any poetry or prose by Margaret Atwood.

Okay here's an example from film.

Watch The Lord of the Rings. Pretty cool series right? Epic, thought provoking, great fantasy with mature storytelling.

Now go watch The Hobbit trilogy and remember WB wanted it to be a PREQUEL to Rings. But it doesn't "feel" the same. It's actually really goofy in comparison. It doesn't have the same sense of weight that Rings does. At one point it's trying to be SUPER FUN! Look Legolas is bouncing from barrel to barrel in a rushing river! How delightful! At another point it's bizarrely dark as it tries to force stuff in to become more prequelish to Rings.

Another example: Disney's Hunchback of Notredame. It's a great work, that's frankly dark and beautiful and moving. Throwing crazy catholics against the Roma, genocide, injustice and more....and then there's the talking gargoyles that sing songs about pastries...? It's tone is a total MESS. They can't seem to stick with one. If you'd like a deeper look into Notredam and tone and just...deconstructing of that film and why is does and doesn't work check out the video below vvvvvvv