I’m sure everybody remembers the teacher or parent who told you they didn’t like your “tone” when you were being a snarky adolescent. Or a whiney brat who wanted a cookie right before dinner:

“Oh, right. I’m going to ride my bike to the dance? Like I’m 10 years old?”

“But Mo-o-om, I’m so hungry. I’m going to starve to death.”

What did they mean by “tone”? You knew you could express the same sentiment in a different way, and nobody would get mad at you. That’s a shift in tone:

“Dad, could you please give me a ride to the dance? I’ll be sooo grateful.”

“Could I have a little snack to keep me going until dinner, Mom? Smelling that yummy roast in the oven makes me so hungry.”

Different tone: maybe different results. But kids’ first instinct is to use a negative tone because it’s more likely to be immediately heard.

Tone can be tough for new writers to master. I think this is partly due to young people studying creative writing in a school environment. Students are used to employing a certain tone in writing school papers, and that migrates to their fiction. The tone of their fledgling stories can be of the detached, formal, “most scholars agree” type, which can snoozify a reader.

It’s also due to the fact most creative writing teachers urge young writers to be “honest” above all things. This can lead to a whiney, negative tone that is less than enticing to the audience.