How To Know Tone And Voice In Writing

What are all the facets of good writing? Eg. tone of voice, cadence, inflection etc...

Good poetry (good prose too)says something clearly and understandably i.e. makes a pointimmerses the reader's senses in the worldaffects the reader's thoughts, emotions or bothoffers something newoffers a compelling voice (cadence, inflection, etc are part of voice)can be read aloud without stumbling over the wordsrhythm and musicality are probably more appropriate to poetry than other writing and involve word choice, repetition, etc. Prose usually contains a little of this but with a lighter hand.

What adjectives best describe tone of voice in writing?

There can be considerable range in tone of voice, so the adjectives are almost limitless. I suggest you start with a category and consult a thesaurus. For example, start with the words, soft, loud, angry, and sad, and look at the range of synonyms. You can then move from any synonym to yet another list of synonyms. Try using Thesaurus.com - The world's favorite online thesaurus!

How can I write a character's voice or tone?

Great question.1. Think About VocabularyConversing while traveling across the US will yield millions of different words and phrases.All of these differences make up a "voice," and your character will/should be effected by this.2. Think About YourselfI have a friend that uses the term, "I'm on the struggle bus" frequently. Does everyone say this? Nope. This is her phrase. Part of her "brand" if you will. We all have words we favor over others. One person might say, "I'm going to eat this sandwich" where another might say "I'm going to put this food in my stomach."Another note on this. If you're not developing each character outside of how you talk, then all of your voices will sound similar. You should be able to see bits of yourself in every character you write, but you shouldn't be able hear yourself in every character you write.3. Think About ContextThis ties into #1 a little bit, but I wanted to be more specific with the details. Where you live is just as important to voice as how you live. Are the main character's parents academic types? If so, then he/she will probably have a bigger vocabulary because he/she grew up having academic discussion. Is the MC religious, a hipster weed-smoking vegan who only eats free-range donuts? This will effect their vocabulary as well. What economic class are they in? Are they creative or analytic? Age? Race? Friend group? All of this matters to voice. Diversity is important here. I, white male Dave, cannot assume that I sound the same as a character of a different gender and ethnicity.I wrote a follow-up blog, and you can read it, here. Also, here’s a helpful video I wrote on writing complex characters that ties into this, as well.

What determines the tone of a piece of writing?

The first three sentences. Take a look at novels from any genre. Thriller is usually building tension. Science fiction is already painting a world for you using scientific jargon. Romance is playful and intimate, especially when it comes to the protagonist's life. Adventure is introducing us to a world filled with it. Mystery paints a, well, mystery to be solved. And British sci-fi has already made a philosophical insight using toads, a theme park and an unfinished bowl of porridge. Just kidding, but seriously look at a random novel without looking at the genre. Good books usually set the tone in the first few sentences.

How do you "find your voice" as a writer – and how do you trust which style or tone is authentically yours?

You develop it over time. Learn new and better words. Listen to other people's input. Trust yourself to be original. (isn’t that annoying, four sentences with the same number of words) It reads like a parts manual for a 79 Chevy Impala. You write. Then you write some more. Read the words on the page out loud and adjust accordingly. Before you know it, you’ll start to hear your own voice in the words.