Hello!
I’m revisiting this previous post…because I still want to talk about it! :) Working on the best route to an evolving conversation…
If you’re up for it, here are a few things I think are important.
For those who have access (this particular link is behind a paywall) how would you describe the tone? How or where would you say the tone is established? How does that shit come across, to readers? Or, wait…my tone just shifted, didn’t it?
Is it working? How, as a writer, do we choose one tone over another, and how to establish and retain control over tone?
What does tone contribute to a delivery?
How does the relationship between tone and content shift, within this really short work?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Join me…behind…the curtain…
I think if what was being discussed in this post was boiled down into a formula, it would perhaps look something a little like this: Intention --> Tone --> Context.
Though, that being said, there’s a lot that can be lost or misconstrued between the stages. Prose, on its own, doesn’t have the nuances of physical gesture, so I believe it would be more prudent to depict both the intention and tone through describing physical actions in addition to crafting speech in a certain way. E. G. “What do you mean by that?” He said, his brow on the cusp of a frown.
As for prose specifically on its own and how it can sustain a certain tone, I think there has to be a carful amount of consideration given to the specific words that are being used, and how one employs a certain mode of address (E. G. Casual, professional, etc). This may seem a little reductionist, but one just need think of how they would speak to a parent, teacher, employer versus how they would speak to a friends -- a big difference in how they communicate, I’m assuming.