Question About Tone and Voice
Even after discussing this question in class I was still unable to perfectly grasp the concept of voice and tone, so I went online to do some research.
On the following webpage:
http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Services/Writing-Center/Writing-Resources/Style-Diction-Tone-and-Voice
I notice the passage discussing the difference is rather short. Thus the passage below summarizes everything:
Anything you write should still have your voice: something that makes your writing sound uniquely like you. A personal conversation with a friend differs from a speech given to a large group of strangers. Just as you speak to different people in different ways yet remain yourself, so the tone of your writing can vary with the situation while the voice -- the essential, individual thoughts and expression -- is still your own.
“Don’t play what’s there; play what’s not there.”
“The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes—ah, that is where the art resides.”
- Artur Schnabel (1882–1951), German-born U.S. pianist.
These two musicians expressed the same thought in their own unique voices.
The passage did not really do that great of a job in huge explanations, but it did leave me wondering with a few thoughts. One is that tone can be related to the mood of the narrator or whoever else is telling the story. But the actual meaning of tone is as follows:
“Aside from individual word choice, the overall tone, or attitude, of a piece of writing should be appropriate to the audience and purpose. The tone may be objective or subjective, logical or emotional, intimate or distant, serious or humorous. It can consist mostly of long, intricate sentences, of short, simple ones, or of something in between.”
So it looks like tone encompasses the entire piece of writing and what the author the reader to feel...how the story is supposed to be told, whether it is biased or pissed off, whatever. Ok now distinguishing that from voice is a little tricky, because voice to me was originally how the narrator makes the character say the material (as in a play on diction). This appears to be true, as evidenced by “Just as you speak to different people in different ways yet remain yourself, so the tone of your writing can vary with the situation while the voice -- the essential, individual thoughts and expression -- is still your own.” A part of voice is connotation--you can be communicating the same thing, but the voice defines the character. In other words, voice can be a sense the feelings interpreted by the listener.
People tend to write about their own experiences...how could we leave enough information to let the readers know only well enough about the character?
I do admit that I too love to write about my own experiences and make a lot of stuff up, or change the story in some way, that the real story is not shared. To address how to leave enough information to let readers know only well enough about the character, I found this useful webpage:
https://www.standoutbooks.com/5-things-about-character-development/
As a summary, there are 5 main points that the page addresses, and I will discuss them along the way. Some of them are just very very trivial.
Make it easy for yourself, do some research
Well basically we are just doing it right now. This step is rather simple and it is that we need to read more in order to understand more. We have read a bunch of stories, but one I want to point out is Cleopatra Brimstone. We have a very good understanding of her character because of her actions and thoughts, not so much through dialogue though. We know she lets the rape fly by, and that she turns men into butterflies, I believe, after seducing them.
This was something that appealed to me, because Sarah taught us to use descriptive
language and now I learn that good writing is just simple. One sentence descriptions,
rather than fluff it up with words and imagery. After reading the reasoning I assumed it made some sense, because little description leaves readers room for interpretation and imagination
3. Let body language play its natural part
Another way to reveal your character is to use body language, and it does not have to be
very specific. Through reactions to situations and feeling (by not telling but showing, but
not too detailed based on point #2), you can demonstrate character. I believe this is one of
the best ways to demonstrate character. You can easily see how rushed and anxious the
parents were in Incarnations of Burned Children through the rush of how the parents
4. Use objects and situations to give your characters dimension
This point is possibly playing with how the narrator feels about the environment. But a
question I would like to ask, possibly for discussion, is would this make the entire story
super biased? And how do you balance extreme bias with character reveal?
5. Say no to the mad scientist and the Russian spy
Essentially, do not use cliches, just because they are boring. I totally agree to this
statement, but if one can make cliched characters lively then I give props to the person.
