tone

Tone shapes the reader’s emotional journey, affecting how they feel about the story’s events and characters. It’s why horror stories terrify us and romance stories give us feelings of excitement, lust, and satisfaction. The novel Jaws by Peter Benchley, sets the tone from the very first scene transforming what could have been a simple adventure story chasing a giant shark, into one filled with moments of tension and impending doom.

Common Tones:

• Serious
• Dark and Grim
• Light-hearted
• Suspenseful
• Whimsical
• Romantic
• Nostalgic
• Philosophical
• Gritty

The narrative voice and language you choose is essential in establishing the right tone. Light, playful words add whimsy to romance or fantasy, while darker language suits horror or suspense. Characters’ speech, descriptions, and pacing also reflect tone, with urgent pacing creating tension and slower pacing evoking thoughtfulness.

In the science fiction novel The Martian by Andy Weir, the protagonist Mark Watney’s humorous and optimistic tone adds a layer of lightness to an otherwise tense and dangerous story of survival on Mars. This humor reveals his character and softens the tone of the grim life-and-death situation he finds himself in.

Want to practice?

Choose three books or movies and try to identify their tone and its emotional impact on you. For instance, Alien by Ridley Scott uses a dark, tense tone, evoking a feeling of claustrophobia and dread.