What’s Your Story’s Tone? (& Why It Matters More Than You Think)

In this blog, we look at how tone shapes stories and novels, why it matters, and how to use it in your own work.

What Is Your Story’s Tone?

The tone of your story is about the attitude a narrator or character adopts towards the story and the reader.

What emotions do you want the reader to pick up on? How does the character feel about the events in the story?

Are you using the right words to create vivid descriptions? Is the tone consistent throughout the story? Can you use an affectation?

If you’re writing in the first person, your tone – or tone of voice – can be influenced by this character’s age, social status, education, empathy, and self-awareness.

Is this character excited or depressed? Are they more thoughtful, analytical, and sophisticated? What is their frame of mind? Do they want to impress the reader? Or fool them in some way?

Of course, tone is not used in isolation. You must balance it against the plot, theme and genre of your short story or novel.

Keep in mind that the narrator could also be the persona you as the writer take on to tell the story, if you’re writing the piece in the third person or from an omniscient viewpoint.

As a writer, you use tone to add an emotional colour or dynamic to the story. To create the right tone, you must think about the words we use, sentence structure, and style. In many ways, tone is nuance and you can use it in as many ways as you want.

What’s Your Tone?

Here are a few story tones:

Formal	Intimate
Outspoken	Reticent
Esoteric	Simple
Serious	Playful
Arrogant	Humble
Angry	Tender
Condescending	Submissive

Find Another 155 Words To Describe An Author’s Tone

Example Of Tone In Motion

Let’s picture a man walking by a river and explore how different tones change the mood of the story.

1. Matter-of-fact: He followed the path along the quiet river.
2. Intimate: Beneath the milk-cold moon, he listened as the shadows whispered secrets only the silent little river understood.
3. Wise: They say if you follow a river it’ll lead you to civilisation, but he’d learned that not every civilisation is worth finding.
4. Angry: The moon mocked him, the river indifferent to his swollen feet. He was ready to attack any enemy waiting in the dark.
5. Ironic: This was the same river he’d walked beside with his grandfather, under the same old moon, and he’d hoped it’d bring him peace. Instead, it only reminded him how far he’d drifted from home.

In the last example, the character hopes the familiar setting will bring comfort, but it only deepens his sense of loss. As you can see, tone can also shape the setting or world of a story – for example, the world of New York high society or that of a student campus.

Satire And Tone

Tone works well for satire. You can use satirical techniques such as exaggeration, irony, and ridicule to bring out modern issues like corruption and bureaucracy. It allows you to be polemic without being overtly political.

Let’s imagine a corrupt city mayor see how tone exaggerates his weaker, more craven qualities.

‘The mayor struggled out the back of a long, salubrious black sedan, before finally oozing onto the red carpet. His belly, a monument to late-night council buffets and open bars, led the way. Around his fleshy neck hung the Chain of Office, a garish loop of gold that shone brighter than his last campaign promises.’

As you can see, the tone of voice here mocks the mayor’s indulgence and lost dignity. The hyperbole exposes the gap between his public image and his oily private habits. When you are conscious of how to use tone, it can really ‘lift’ the writing.

Tone, Mood, And Viewpoint

You must select the tone of your story with intent because it will reflect the relationship between the story itself and the narrator, and the narrator and the reader. The tone will evoke the right mood and the viewpoint will show the narrator’s perspective.

Top Tips

1. Read your story out loud. Does it sound the way you heard it in your imagination?
2. Ask your writing group to read your story. Did they identify the right tone?
3. Rewrite a paragraph of your story in a different tone. Is the paragraph better or worse?

The Final Word

Tone must reflect how the narrator or author feels about the story, its characters, and the reader.

There is no right or wrong way to apply tone to a novel or short story. You’ll need to experiment until you find the right tone for your work.

If you want to understand viewpoint better as a writer, check out The Viewpoint Workbook.

Source for image: Pixabay

By Anthony Ehlers. Anthony Ehlers facilitates courses for Writers Write. He writes awesome blog posts and workbooks too.

More Posts From Anthony:

1. What Is Freewriting & How Do I Use It?
2. What Can Viewpoint Give Your Story?
3. 6 Stereotypes To Avoid In LGBTQIA+ Fiction
4. The Powerful Bonds Of Six Fictional Brothers And Sisters
5. 5 Secrets To Writing A Strong Inciting Incident
6. 5 Reasons To Start Writing A Story With Viewpoint In Mind
7. 7 Extraordinary Authors With Extraordinary Word Counts
8. The 5 Easiest Genres To Plot
9. The 5 Toughest Genres To Plot
10. Action Is The Hero

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