Beginning

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My writing journey has begun. The road will have some bumps and detours. I only hope that the first hill is not too high, and the journey is long.














Monday, June 27, 2011

Setting The Tone

     I have been working the “tone” used in my writing. I have been listening to everyday conversation and jotting down what I hear. When people are talking, I try to watch their body language, listen to their vocal inflections and their facial expressions. In my writing I want to clearly convey the tone of my characters. So, watching and noting the dialoge, action and reaction of others helps me with the tone. Setting your tone early in your writing determines the tone and sentence structure you will use throughout your story.


     Tone comes in a wide range of attitudes. Tone can be humorous, sometimes sarcastic, flippant, silly or ironic. Complaints can be angry, bitter, sad cautious, polite or intense. These are some of the questions I ask myself when setting the tone:

1. Is it too silly?

2. Is it too dreary?

3. Will it engage my reader?

4. Does it flow?

5. Does it fit with my subject?

6. Are you refelecting the attitude you envision?

What are some of the questions you ask yourself when setting the tone?

7 comments:

Stacy S. Jensen said...

Very good questions, especially No. 6. Struggling with that today. I'm working on a non-fiction essay right now. During revisions, I read it out loud and wondered if the tone is on the page or in my reading. Hmm. Back to tinker with it.

MTeacress said...

You are so sweet to think of me last week when you passed out blog awards. I've been out of town and just got back on Blogger today, so I hopped on over to say thank you!

As far as tone goes - I always wonder if others will 'see' things the way I want/mean them to. What I think is funny, flippant, polite, etc., might not be so to them, you know?

Have a good week!

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Is it melodramatic?

Great tips for tone :)
I ask myself about flow A LOT

Maeve Frazier said...

Stacy - I struggle with it myself, wondering if my reader will be able to envision it too. Good luck with your essay.

Maeve Frazier said...

Michelle - you are welcome. I love reading your blog. I think you have a lot to offer. I know what you mean about what you might be thinking is funny, flippant, polite, etc. It is like saying something to someone and them looking back at you like you have three heads. I have been in that situation. Thanks for the comments.

Maeve Frazier said...

Lynda - Good one! I'll add it to my thoughts when writing.

Mariam W said...

Appreciiate this blog post