Tone shifts in stories

[keii4ii]

Some stories, you look at the first few pages and know EXACTLY what this is going to be: a lighthearted action flick. A detective omnibus that's also a witty commentary on the sucky sides of life. An honest, unglamorous look at teenage romance. The Pianist (2002 movie) is one of my favorite movies and is a good example of this. It starts out like a somber wartime civilian drama, and it stays that way for the entire length of the movie. It certainly develops and grows, but does not change its tone.

But there's another school of storytelling, stories that take longer to figure out. Keen readers may see it right off the bat, but in general, people will need time to really know what your story is trying to do. The Last of Us is one example I can think of; its intro is laden with drama, but you assume it's a horror story... because it's a horror game with horror settings... but in the end it's really a character drama more than anything IMO. The further you get in the game, the more you realize the story is far more depressing than it is scary.

Of course, then there are stories that are in-between.

I'm not here to argue which one is superior/ more difficult/ etc. That would be pointless! But which approach do YOU gravitate toward, as a reader and as a creator?

Me, I enjoy both (+the in-betweens) pretty much equally as a reader. But as a creator, I find pretty much all of my longer stories shift tones. It's not uncommon for people to describe my stories as genre X at the beginning, then as genre Y later. While I'm still learning how to handle the shift better, the fact that the shift is there isn't a bad thing in and of itself.

(PS. Tapastic, STOP trying to tell me this topic is similar to "looking for an artist to work with." What are the similarities!?)

[sefra114]

I also enjoy both equally. Sometimes I enjoy something that stays within the same tone, but I really like ones that change and shift into something else, too! My current comic will see some tone shifts as well!

[Cielle]

idk, maybe it's just me, but I love stories that begin with 'everything is going great!' and then WHAM everything falls to pieces. I think most of my favorite stories are those with a massive tone shift, but the thing is, I don't want to expect the tone shift. The surprise is what makes it fun. At the same time, though, it's nice when you get what you expect from a story. Romance/Rom-coms aren't my usual go-to stories, but what I like about them is that they are like a roller coaster: you get to simulate danger without any real risk. You get the fun ups and downs, with some unexpected twists and lip-biting moments, but you know that at the end of the ride it's going to end with a relationship (or, within the metaphor, not being dead? Sorry this is a bad metaphor). Unless of course it's one of those roller coasters that, at the end of the ride, does the whole thing again, backwards. But I digress. I like both kinds of stories, but I definitely gravitate towards tone shifts as both a reader and a creator.

[keii4ii]

The surprise is what makes it fun.

I think this might be an entirely different kind of a shift. Maybe not entirely, but certainly not the same one in the example of The Last of Us... The surprise isn't what makes it great in that particular example; it's how natural it is.

Can you give some examples of the WHAM-shift? The ones I can think of are done poorly XD

[Shanny8]

I like stories that can shift tones effectively, without making you hate the shift- especially if it makes the characters shift without you hating the change in them. Sometimes in the shift, you can see that the creator is capable of doing more than they have led you to believe.

[Kayke]

I think when it comes to tone shifts it's easier to think of web comics in the same way you think of TV shows. TV shows often have lighthearted episodes and dramatic episodes and then sometimes entire seasons that are a very different tone than the one that came before them. In a movie it might be overwhelming to have one half that's a funny musical and then half that's a romantic drama... but in a show you could do that in two back to back episodes quite easily and effectively!

I don't mind tone shits so long as the characters see to stay true to themselves.

[kristintipping7]

I think I wrote one of theses almost by accident. I thought I telegraphed pretty hard at the beginning that it was going to get scary, but I a lot of my readers apparently thought they were signing up for a BL romance. Instead they got a comic where a boy goes to his neighbor's house hangs out for a while and then desperately ties to avoid getting murdered by ghosts for the rest of the night.
Not that romance is automatically incompatible with horror, (see about half of all Gothic literature here) but in this case (spoilers) the potential romance gets thwarted pretty quick. The readers and the main character were both pretty upset about it. Which is good because it's supposed to be upsetting. I can't shake the feeling that a few of the readers are more upset about the lack of boy on boy make-outs than they are about the main character's current peril, though.

[keii4ii]

@kristintipping7 I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I think a lot of my readers subscribed for an exciting epic adventure!!!11 story OTL

@Kaykedrawsthings Ohh, my tastes don't really like that kind of shifts. I value cohesiveness very highly in a story, so when a TV show does that, I always feel like the writers are taking the cheap way out to do something different instead of integrating it seamlessly. There's definitely an audience that enjoys it, though.

[Kura]

I'm a huge fan of series that start out light hearted or simple enough, then change into something that'll just wreck me. It's a neat bit of pacing that introduces you to and gets you attached to the characters before they are permanently thrown into serious drama or ripped from your life. It mimics the unexpected and unplanability of life, be that an unintentional or intentional intent of the author.

Its of course one of those things that is great when done right and just horrible when done badly, just like any form of writing really.

[Cielle]

haha even though I said I like it, I'm drawing a bit of a blank. The only examples I can think of are Puella Magi Madoka Magika and Fruits Basket. I might count Hunter X Hunter, too. What they have in common is a light-hearted beginning that leads to darker and more serious conclusions.

An inverse example (starts dark and become lighthearted) is "The Devil is A part-timer", though it also kind of goes back and forth between serious and lighthearted.

In any case, an abrupt tone-shift can be just as hard to pull off as a gradual one. In either case, it's quite satisfying as a reader to find a story that does it well ^w^

[joannekwan]

I don't have a preference for either type of story-telling. However I much prefer when the tone shift is gradual, like in Puella. I hate it when it's very abrupt, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles for example.

[popsiclestick]

i tend to find stories that stick to a certain tone far more comforting as bedtime reading, but many a time i've found myself hooked on a story that twists and turns, and offers far more than the basic premise the blurb offers.
my own comic starts off as a lighthearted romp with little depth but at some point in the second chapter (which i'm not gonna specify as it's not released yet) the story undergoes a massive tone shift, as the protagonist accidentally commits a terrible crime and must pay for what he's done. it's a shift that i'm trying to build up to - one thing i dislike is a shift completely out of the blue, and i'm trying to hint at slightly darker aspects of my protagonist, and the worldbuilding, as the story gets the the shift point.

in the end, i hope it works - i'd rather the 'shift' moment to be a shock to the senses, but in the 'WELL THIS IS AN INTERESTING TWIST' way rather than something completely without foundation.

[Ringarune]

I really like both types since they each bring something interesting to the table. The story I'm working on currently though doesn't have any tone shifts really.

[Mineu]

I really like stories with many crazy twists and surprises as long as there are previous hints about them. My stories are usually like that, reason why many people have told me that they are "weird" and "crazy". Well, my scripts usually look like spider webs hahahaha xD

But yeah, overall I prefer stories with many twists, when characters go into the world knowing nothing about it and discovering its many secrets in the adventure. Let's say I like stories like Pandora Hearts for example, which is pretty confusing at the beginning but as you keep reading, you being the understand the world along with the characters (and how the story turns even darker in the meantime hahahaha )

By the way, I would like to read one of your stories @keii4ii

[KSlinger]

As a reader I like being taken by surprise, though (like everyone else) also think that a gradual introduction of the new tone is better than an abrupt one, or at least some kind of warning that things could delve into darker territory. Being mislead isn't fun, especially when you start reading a story for the good vibes only to encounter unexpected gore and trauma. It's an uncomfortable surprise at best and a bad story telling at worst.

My own comic has a serious shift in tone that worries me for the same reasons. A simple errand turns into blazing danger fest-- stuff's on fire, there's unexpected bastards, MC is being shot at etc-- but I didn't advertise the comic as either very serious or very light-hearted because it genuinely swoops between both. When things aren't fast and dangerous they're silly and domestic, and while I'm well aware that that's the case I wouldn't be surprised if the change has weirded some reader's out. I just dunno.

[shazzbaa]

Can you give some examples of the WHAM-shift? The ones I can think of are done poorly XD

Ooo I have one! Hatoful Boyfriend! It starts out as a silly parody of dating games, where you, a human girl, date pigeons (represented with literal photos of pigeons), treated though they were the same pretty anime boys of any otome, but as you go you uncover strange clues that something isn't right, and a new path where there are DEFINITELY NO EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWNS OR GRISLY MURDERS IN THIS FUNNY BIRD GAME!!! by the end, it is a completely different kind of game that destroyed my heart!! But it's so strange and interesting, I really have a soft spot for it. I think it did a good job of a tone shift that was a big surprise, but because of how it was foreshadowed and hinted at, it doesn't feel random.

THAT SAID, THO, I usually actually prefer to get what it says on the tin. xD I have a very specific and narrow ability to handle emotional distress in my fiction, so shows like Steven Universe that start out fun and quirky and then delve into deep and real emotions can often be too much for me -- if it's a contained thing like a movie or game it'll just be a powerful experience, but if it's a comic or a show that you come back to over and over, I might nope out after a season when things start getting too real and stay there.

I'd say that in my own work, I shoot for scenes and moments to hit different notes rather than the overall story having a tone shift. I think my story is the kind of story that it appears to be from the start (a friend of mine described the tone of my work as "Fantasy Voltron" and I love this) -- there are moments that lean silly, and there are moments that lean emotional, but it doesn't really take a turn in one direction or the other. At least, that's what I'm going for! I guess we'll see!!

[keii4ii]

@shazzbaa I agree breadcrumbing is definitely the way to go! That particular example, though... I don't know how to discuss it because I'm soooo far from being its target audience XD;;;

@Mineu Are you talking about plot twists or tone shifts? In some stories they're one and the same, but you can also have a story that does a plot twist without shifting tones, or vice versa. e.g. Fullmetal Alchemist has quite a few reveals and surprises, but doesn't do any major tone/genre shifts throughout the story. (My comic's linked from my forum profile, BTW!)

[lunaartemisasama]

It depends in dramas I really don't mind so much the change of events, because it is drama lol. In comedies it depends how it is treated... But what I dont like soo much is when first it starts like a comedy or romance and then it turns out in horror or science fiction lol. I mean sometimes the author give you hints so it's not so weird but when it is from one moment to other is like, What happened here? lol.

[Mineu]

@keii4ii Well, for me it's ok if a story has both. But yeah, I think I got quite confused there hahaha forgive me. I meant plot twists, I am fine with stories that have many of them; regarding tone shifts, I think one is fine for me but too many can be quite confusing.
Great! I'll check your comic!

[scythe]

Hmmm.... Stranger Things seems to me to be something of a tone-shifter, in the sense that, in my mind, it went from a possible psychological or sci-fi thriller to a horror, but those two genres are quite close, so it's cool.

I definitely wouldn't be interested in reading anything that jumped from a drama to horror, or comedy to thriller, or something like that.

But whatever the shift, I expect the author to throw in at least some kind of hint early on as to what to expect later.

From my point of view, the beginning of a story is a contract presented to the reader by the writer, which should broadly lay out what I'm signing on for. It's a huge gamble, if, when they get to the middle or ending of a story, the writer starts taking the reader on a significantly different ride than the one they signed up for. Imagine, for instance, if Game of Thrones all of a sudden started introducing an alien race to it. That would clearly be a break of contract and would ruin the whole thing. This is what we saw happening with Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.