Tone

by G.Parker

Okay, last week I talked about voice. Today I wanted to mention tone. I know, you're thinking -- tone? That's only involved with muscles, isn't it? Or tone of voice?

Writing has a tone too. It's the mood or setting of a story. Is it dark, humorous, thought provoking, mysterious, etc.

I just finished doing a review of a book called The Cleansing of America, by Cleon W. Skousen. Now, other people have interpreted it differently, but I found it to be rather dark. Not that it's not appropriate in the tone, but just dark and somewhat foreboding. Mainly, that's because of the subject matter. He lightens it at the end, with thoughts of how we should live today to be better prepared for tomorrow, but the whole book gets you thinking.

What type of tone do you set in your book? Do you change it in the middle? Are you a consistent writer of one tone or another? I tend to write lighter romances, but there are those who write mysterious and sinister ones, upbeat and silly ones -- there's a whole gambit out there.

Just another thought to add to the writing mind for the week -- what tone do you want to set? See ya next week.