English PT 1st Quarter

Elements of Fiction:
Style and Tone
Introduction
Style and tone are elements of fiction. The
writer uses a certain style and tone to craft the
story. Style refers to the writer’s choice of
diction, sentence structure, literary techniques,
and use of rhythm.

In fiction writing, the writer’s style is also created by the choice

of literary devices that are used to create the story, such as
imagery, symbolism, allegory, personification, and other
figurative language.
Tone, on the other hand, refers to the writer’s attitude toward
his/her story and to the reader. The writer’s tone assists in
creating a mood or atmosphere for the story. Philip Roth uses a
humorous tone in Portnoy’s Complaint.
This article discusses the following:

 Style
 Tone
 Narrative Voice
 The writer’s voice
Style
Every fiction writer has a unique style. The writer’s style is
based on many choices about diction, syntax/sentence structure,
detail, dialogue, literary devices, and rhythm.
The writer’s style comes from the diction or word choice he/she
uses. Does the writer use simple language or complex language?
Is the language concrete or abstract? What does a word connote?
What does the word denote?
The writer’s style comes from the types of sentence
structure/syntax he/she uses. Does the writer use short or long
sentences? Sentence fragments? Periodic or cumulative
sentences? Simple or complex sentences? For instance, Cormac
McCarthy, in The Road, uses many sentence fragments to tell
his story.
Another way that the writer reveals his/her style is by the
amount of detail presented to the reader. Does the writer go into
great depth? Or does the writer use summary narrative or sparse
prose?
And the fiction writer’s style is revealed by the content of
dialogue. The dialogue a writer uses reveals a lot about each
character, including the background and education of the
character, his or her motivations, and what each character
ultimately believes about the world. Much of what the writer
says is based on personal experience, values, biases, and
prejudices.
When reading passages of dialogue, the reader needs to consider
how the characters’ remarks reflect or accentuate the writer’s
voice. What do the characters say? How do the characters say it?
The writer’s style is also expressed by the choice of literary
techniques the writer uses to construct the story, such as
imagery, symbolism, personification, irony, metaphor, and
symbolism. Many certain literary techniques over others.
The writer can reveal his/her style by the use of rhythm, which
is the pattern of flow and movement created by the writer’s
choice of words and the arrangement of sentences. What types
of repetition does the writer use? Does the writer use
alliteration? Rhyme? How does the writer use parallel structure?
Single words? Fragments?

Tone
What is tone? It refers to the fiction writer’s attitude toward
his/her subject and toward the readers. The writer’s tone creates
an atmosphere or mood for the story. A writer’s tone can
be humorous, satirical, passionate, zealous, sarcastic,
condescending, and so on. The tone can be anything the writer
chooses. For instance, humour is an important tone in children’s
literature. Types of humour used by writers include surprise,
exaggeration, incongruity, absurdity, and parody.
The writer’s choice of diction often reveals his/her tone. Tone is
often expressed by the connotation of words. For instance, a
certain expression might be interpreted as sarcasm. Another
expression can be interpreted as vulgar.
Tone is also about the effect the writing has on the reader. What
mood does the writer create in the mind of the reader?
The Narrative Voice
What is the narrative voice? It is the quality of the narrative,
whether the story is told in the first-person or the third-person. 
It is how the writer chooses to tell the story–casually, seriously,
humorously, and so forth. The Narrative voice will belong to a
character within the story, such as the protagonist.  Or when the
story is told in the third-person, the narrative voice will belong
to an unknown character, someone who is not a participant in
the story.
Before writing the story, the fiction writer needs to decide what
narrative voice to use: Serious? Comic? Detached? Or
entertaining? Once the narrative voice is selected, the writer can
determine what sort of diction and sentence structure to use.

The Writer’s Voice

The narrative voice is an extension of the writer’s voice. The
writer’s voice consists of many elements, including style and
tone. But the writer’s is created by many other factors, such as
socioeconomic background, education, belief system, values,
writing experience, and so forth.
Frequently, a writer’s voice is expressed through the following
elements:
1. Diction. The word choice of the writer.
2. Syntax. The sentence patterns chosen by the writer.
3. Subject matter. What the writer chooses to write about and
his/her views on that subject matter.
4. Tone. The attitude that the writer intends to convey about the
subject to the reader.
Developing a Unique Voice
How does the aspiring writer acquire his/her own voice? It takes
time to create a voice. It begins by developing an original style.
From style, the writer needs to write and gain experience. Over
time, the writer’s voice emerges. It is a process.
To help develop a unique voice, the aspiring writer can do the
following:
1. Learn to write well. Learn the rules of grammar, spelling,
and punctuation. And then learn when to break these rules.
2. Expand his/her vocabulary. The writer must use the
dictionary to learn the meaning of unfamiliar words. The
writer should also use a thesaurus to find similar words with
different shades of meaning.
3. Read widely and deeply. The writer ought to read fiction by
the great writers. The writer also needs to read nonfiction,
like biographies, and person essays. By doing this, the writer
can learn how the masters constructed memorable fiction.
4. Analyze the styles of great writers, such as Charles Dickens,
Ernest Hemingway, and George Orwell. Analysis teaches
the writer how to create setting, plot, characters, and use
other literary devices.
5. Experiment with different writing styles, such as word
choice and syntax. Only through practice and experience
will the aspiring writer develop a unique style.
6. Learn the element of fiction and use them. (Plot, setting,
character, conflict, and so forth.)
7. Learn the literary techniques and use them. (Imagery,
symbolism, allusion, and figures of speech, such as simile,
metaphor, and personification.)
 8. Make writing a lifestyle choice. The aspiring writer must
write every day. Only by writing on a regular basis will the
writer develop his/her unique voice.
9. Write in a way that comes naturally. The writer needs to use
words and phrases that are his/her own. Imitation is
acceptable.
10. The writer also needs to place himself/herself in the
background. To do this, the writer needs to write in a way
that draws the reader to the sense and style of the writing,
rather than to the tone and temper of the writer. (Strunk and
White’s Elements of Style)
11.  Avoid using a breezy manner. The breezy style is a work
of an egocentric, the writer who imagines that everything
that comes to mind is of interest and ought to be written on
the page. Instead, the writer needs to make every word
count, each word should move the story forward, and each
word needs to have a purpose. (Strunk and White’s Elements
of Style)
 
 Over time, and with practise and
experimentation, the aspiring writer will
develop his/her unique voice.