Have you ever read something that didn’t feel right for some reason you couldn’t quite put your finger on? Perhaps the wording was awkward or possibly the language seemed too formal for what you thought should have been an informal, lighthearted view point? Maybe something about the style made you uncomfortable or the language was too simple or complex for the topic and author’s message. These are issues of tone. Tone is concerned with how a work is written and the way it feels to read it.

Tone in written work, reflects how the writer views the subject they are writing about, the characters or the audience and how they want it to come across. These two literary devices are generally communicated through the word choice used to express the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject and impart an overall sense or feeling related to the work. This may be hope or dread, joy or sadness or any other emotion. It is instilled over the course of the work such that the reader may not be able to identify a single thing that is causing them to react the way they are. The tone can be conveyed formally, informally, seriously, comically, sarcastically, sadly, and cheerfully. Tone can also be scared, anxious, excited, depressed/depressing, foolish, smart or worried. Essentially tone can reflect any emotion, attitude or belief through the proper word choice. I’m sure everyone has heard the age old adage (possibly cliché), “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.” In order to both express what you want and do it well while staying far from everyday clichés, you need to keep an eye on your word choice.

Voice is a little harder to describe, because it cannot be pinpointed at any specific part of the story. Voice is the unique style of the writer which imparts their views and personality within the writing. Voice is a combination of tone, mood, atmosphere and style which generates a ‘feel’ in an author’s writing which is generally found across all their work. This is not to say every story has the exact same feel. This is due to tone, which can change dramatically from one piece to another. The writer may have produced many works each with different styles, tones and moods but the way they are used together is unique even if they differ by which person they are written in, pace, subject matter, style and mood. There is still the sense of the author’s voice behind the narrator.

Before we get to the actual list, how about trying the exercise above again only this time try to use cliché’s just to describe tone and voice. Remember voice is based on you. You don’t have to try to write like someone else entirely to make a character entirely different from you. Even if you are focusing on tone, allow the writer you are to give rise to the voice of the piece, no matter how short your exercise may be. Here’s my attempt:

It was a dark and stormy night, the kind of storm not even a duck would be caught out dead in. The smell of burning rubber from a checkered cab speeding fast as if driven by a New Yorker despite this being Florida, permeated the air adding insult and injury to the smell of wet dog that sat heavy in the angry darkness like a water logged sponge yet to be wrung out. Rebecca sat brooding by the window, waiting for something to happen. But what?

Your turn. See if you can write a worse clichéd description depicting tone. Be sure to include yours in the comments section. I've also included an excellent webinar below on how writers can develop their voice and tone for their writing.