It is important to have balance because only by having that balance will those long flowy sentences or those short punchy sentences have any impact. If the whole book is punchy sentences, it's going to be really stressful to read the whole thing. You need to have that balance so that you can appreciate it when you do have those moments.

Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming, so each week, I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. So, whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. In today's episode, we're going to talk about mood and tone, specifically, how to utilize mood and tone in your writing, and my guest today will be sharing four ways you can evoke or express mood and tone, as well as some things to think about when it comes to mood and tone.

Her name is Isabel Lanz and she's a UK-based author, editor, writing coach and website designer who runs a business called Inspired Creative Co. And she's all about helping writers at all levels grow, learn and develop their storytelling skills through personalized coaching and solutions-based feedback. I will put all the links to where you can find Isabel around the internet in the show notes, but for now, let's dig into my conversation with Isabel Lanz. That's all about tone and mood. Hi, isabel, welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. I'm so excited to have you here today.

Hi, thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure.

Yeah, and I gave you a little introduction already, but can you just tell my audience in your own words who you are, what you do and things like that?

Absolutely so. I'm Isabel Lanz. I am an editor, writing coach and website designer at Inspired Creative Time, and I've been running my business since 2019, been editing for key years before then, both in-house and freelance and I'm also a writer of fiction as well At the moment very heavily thriller and mystery, but before that it was fantasy.

That's pretty cool, a little genre switcheroo. I like that. So, isabel, if it's okay with you, I kind of want to just dive right into it. So let's start with what are tone and mood, and how do you go about describing this to the writers that you work with?

So tone and mood refers to the kind of atmosphere that you're creating and the feel within the writing. So these are things like the word choices and your style of writing and essentially the feeling that that reader is getting.

Yes, and that's how I like to think about it too. So tone is kind of like how you feel and what you're putting into the project and how you're writing things, the sentences and things like that, and then that helps to create the mood which is how your reader receives it. On the other end and you know, with the writers I work with, I see there's it almost feels like there's a lot of mystery around these things or it's like a nebulous thing. How do we create tone and mood, things like that? And I know we're going to talk about that. But if I'm a brand new writer and I'm like, okay, I see what you're saying, but why should I care about this? Why is it important? What would you say?

it's important for being able to say exactly how that leader should be receiving your work. So in crime, crime and thriller, you obviously want them to be nervous and be tense and kind of be gripped by what's happening in the book and if you're not studying the right tone and the right kind of atmosphere in that story, then they're not going to be receiving it in the way that you want, which means that it's probably not going to have the impact that you want.

Right, and I saw a real life example of this last week. I was on some live summit and they were talking about I got agent feedback and the agent said, you know how you're writing or the tone of your work doesn't match your genre. And this person said, well, I'm writing kind of a romance and there's also a subplot with a crime. And I said, okay, well, so what tone do you think your story had? And they were like, well, I think it's romantic suspense, like it was really tense. And I'm like, well, then, you're not probably writing a straight romance, right, like you know. So it is very important. And I do see agents on the other end and even readers who, when there's that disconnect between what the story is about and or what they know about the author and the tone, it's just jarring right, it's not a good experience.

Yeah, and it can be really hard as well if there's a genre crossover, and romance and suspense is definitely a tricky one to put together because they're two very different things.

Yeah, and I think it comes down to how you're going to market it right. Because if you're marketing it as a romance and there happens to be like small beach town mystery inside that romance, you're still going for the romantic feeling of the book, that happily ever after and things like that. If you market it as a romantic suspense, then we at least know we're getting some of that mood and that tense feeling right. So it comes down to marketing. It comes down to before that, even knowing what you want to convey. So really, really important. But you talk about four things that we can look at or think about when we're trying to utilize tone and mood in our stories. Do you want to go through those?

Yeah, so the first one, which I think is depending on your style of writing it could just come out so naturally that you don't even realize you're doing it is through using really specific language. So this is where you can really dig into that character's voice and then by having that character's voice you can really set the tone of the story. So let's say you're writing that Summer Beach read romance. Your character is probably going to be someone who is quite lighthearted and fun and bubbly and it's just a real feel-good book, which means that the kind of language they're going to be using is going to reflect that. So it might have something like the cool wind kissed the back of her neck. Whereas if you're writing a crone and it was this like Dally's luck pezimistik cop, then you'd probably say something like a cool wind nipped at the back of his neck, like the eager hands of death to try and clean. It's a very different feel.

Big difference. Yeah, I love that and so I think you know, like you said, sometimes I work with writers where it comes out so naturally. They don't even know they're doing it and the funny thing is usually, once they're done, they're like okay, so now I need to go worry about tone and mood and voice and I'm like you've already nailed it and you didn't even know you were doing it. So sometimes it comes out naturally. Other times it is something we have to think about and I know, within the next kind of three things we're going to talk about, you're going to give us ideas for how we can think about the language we use. But yeah, I think that's. It's kind of like the one we all see the most is the language and what's on the page, right, but what's the second thing?

So internal monologue and this is one of my favorite things to read and to write it's just such a secret weapon for writers and you can really play with that juxtaposition of what a character says versus what they think and feel. So if your character is being invited to some party, they might say, well, it sounds amazing, I can't wait for it. And in their head they're thinking this weekend is going to be an absolute nightmare. Yeah, and you're already setting up an expectation, or setting up a field for not only just who the character is, but an expectation of where the story might be going, what we can expect and how we should feel, because your characters really inform the reader how to feel Right.

And you know I love that too, because it's kind of showing that things aren't as they seem, maybe, on the surface, and so it gets our brains working the way that they need to work, which is there's something going on here, pay attention, you know. Whereas compared to something like, you know, a middle grade fantasy, where sometimes it's it can be a little dark, but most of the time it's like wonder and fun and humor and just keeping us kind of on that track or in something like a contemporary romance, it's like the interiority matches kind of the vibe of the genre you're writing for, right? So I love that interiority, the inner monologue, I think that's also. I agree with you. You said it's our superpower, it's what sets writing novels apart from TV and things like that. So huge, huge benefit to digging into that. And then what's the third thing we can look at?

So the third is setting.

And sometimes this can be so easily overlooked, and certainly if you're writing a crime thriller that might be set in modern day London or something like that, you're kind of like it's London, everyone knows what that's about, or New York or anywhere we kind of know to expect, but you want to make sure that your setting is playing into that tone and that feel that you want to create, to that tone and that feel that you want to create.

So in the case of and then there were none by the first day, which is my favorite book, it's setting place such a huge part because it's remote, it's on an island, and then not only that, but then it's a massive storm and already it creates this like suffocating intensity that makes everything that happens in the book so much harder for the characters and it really sets up the plot then because there's a storm and they're isolated and it plays into that tension and all of that. Yeah, so if you're writing a crime thriller or you're writing any genre, it's really important that that setting is reflecting the tone and the mood and benefiting the plot. Yeah, I love that.

And I think it's one of those things again that, like we see and we can envision, if we're writing horror yes, the setting plays into it and things like that but also it totally matters for every genre, right? Like in a bubbly romance, we want to pay attention to, like how can we enhance the reader's experience and give them those feelings of love? And in something else, like a thriller, crime story, it's, how do we kind of up that tension? And I think it's really cool just looking, thinking about all these things so far, the different levers we can pull to give the reader a certain experience. And, like you said in the beginning, some of these things come more naturally to certain writers. I don't know any writer who nails all four of these things in their first you know, however many drafts, but we can all learn and we can all get there, which I think is really cool. So so far we said language, that interiority, or that inner monologue, the setting. What's the fourth thing?

So the fourth one is through sentence structure, and this is different to that first point about the actual words that you're using, because this is playing with tension, is that? So you've got the difference between those short, snippy sentences and those long, flowy sentences and how they make you feel. So I've got some examples. A short, like tense, urgent sentence could be I run down the hallway, bang, the gunshot sings to the end. I turn the gun, bang, the bullet load is in the wall, like you really feel, like you're there and it's it's panic and it's high stakes and you're kind of the sentences almost mirror a heartbeat. All right, and bang, these things are happening.

Yeah, it's punchy, yeah. And then you've got these long, flowing sentences that are more relaxed and a bit calm and make the reader feel a bit more at ease. So something like I nestle into his embrace, get in the warmth of his body, the beat of his heart, the wrath of the trust, and I know that every wound I've ever had can now begin to heal, yeah, and having that kind of that long, almost repetition of this feeling, it's kind of like a hug. You know you're still really safe in it, but you wouldn't feel that if it was so short, sharp sentences.

Right, yeah, just even hearing you read it it's a totally different experience, so that's very cool. And then, something that I see a lot with the writers I work with or that are in my course they'll sometimes think that like they have to fully lean in one way or the other. So in the example you use, let's say that I'm writing a romance and I, when I hear you read that, I'm like, yes, that last sentence is what I want to do. They'll sometimes take that to mean like that's what the whole draft needs to be and I can't use punchy sentences. What are your thoughts on that?

I slowly appreciate the thought behind it. But it is important to have balance, because only by having that balance will those long flowing sentences or those short punchy sentences have any impact. Right, the whole book is when she sentences. It's going to be really stressful to read the whole thing. You need to have that balance so that you can appreciate it when you do have those moments, right.

Yeah, and so I always tell them kind of the same thing. Like when you're reading a book, you feel the sentences and the times that you're meant to feel, and if everything else was like that, those would not stand out and it wouldn't be that experience. So you know, I'm guilty of this too as a writer. Like sometimes I take advice as super black and white and I'm like I have to do X because that's what I read, right, and it's usually like no, everything's a balance. So it's a balance of all four of these things language, that inner monologue or interiority, the setting, the sentence structure, and then everything else, of course, right, like your character development, everything, your plot. But if I'm listening to this, I might be wondering okay, I get it, there's four things I can dig into. I know what tone and mood are. I might be wondering when should I worry about this? Is this like a first draft problem? Is this something I do when I'm at the last editing phase, like when do I worry about it?

I mean it's always good to have in mind and you know, the cleaner first draft you write, then the easier it is to revise. But I would never put the pressure on a writer to write the first time round, because you don't always know your story that you're trying to tell the first time round and you don't know that that's what that scene necessarily needs or that the first time you wrote it was the best way to write it. So I think really it's revisions. That's where that real magic happens yeah, I think so too.

And it's like you said, sometimes you might surprise yourself, you might not think you're.

I have a writer who's like this. She's like I'm not that funny, like I don't think I could ever write a romantic comedy, and then the the draft she produces, I'm like you're actually pretty funny, like it's hard to see that about yourself or know what's going to come out of you until you actually write something down. So what I like to do and tell me if you agree or disagree, but I like to at least think through these things, like what kind of mood do I want? Do I want humor? What kind of or do I not Like? Do I want to feel darker or more romantic? And then like how do I feel about what I'm writing too, because that's going to color things. So just thinking through it and you don't have to make a decision. But it's just like I know I want something like this or something not like this, you know, and then you can at least get a jump start on your draft and then, like you said, focus on it more in revisions yeah, definitely.

You said focus on it more in revisions. Yeah, definitely. I also think that our characters just surprise us and they really lead the way, because I I wrote a crack fellow recently and I didn't really know what any of the voices would be. I had the things seven perspectives and they also promised me because they're like cool, this is my voice, this is how I feel about things, and it was really fun to just be like cool, lead the way.

Yeah, you're like, I'm glad you've done all the heavy lifting here. I love it. And speaking of voice, that's something else that writers really struggle with. They, I think, just because they haven't I don't know researched it or experienced it, they think it's going to be something really complicated. So what, on that note of like having to write so many perspectives and voices, are there any tips you have around that or any thoughts you want to share?

yeah, I would say that I mean. So for me, I'm a panther and I don't like to plot too much in advance. But if you are plotted, then definitely considering how your characters differ, because you don't want them obviously all to be the same. So in my chrome thriller I had some characters who were very emotionally detached and were kind of almost indifferent when there was a dead body, and then other characters who were borderline hysterical and it creates that balance. Then that kind of encompasses the reality of what you would have if you had 10 random people in a room, yeah, and then thinking about the voice that would match that. So if they're really detached emotionally, what kind of voice are they going to pronounce? Are they going to be really smarky? Are they going to be completely blunt and indifferent?

Yeah, so I guess, working on that personality, yeah, and I think that's the key is doing all that character work, because with the detached people it's like why are they detached? What happened in their backstory, what do they value, what do they not value? And then how does that color kind of how they show up? And it's almost like just by doing that work you normally will get to a voice and kind of, like you said, the characters led the way right and of course you can sharpen that and stuff like that. But sometimes I feel like writers put so much pressure on voice because we hear agents want a good voice and things like that, and it's almost like if you just do the character work and you write something, get it down, it'll come out. Do you think that? That's kind of what happened to you?

Well, completely yeah, I never knew what was going, yeah.

Well, and I'm a, I'm a plotter and I work with a lot of writers who are plotters, and even if we think we do, there are still surprises, especially when it comes to character. So you know, we can't ever plan everything a hundred percent. I wish we could, but okay. So back to tone and mood. Are there any mistakes? You see, that are like common pitfalls people make with the writers you work with and things like that.

Well, I think largely it would be what you were saying earlier about the fact that they don't quite know what the way it needs to be and they think there can be some disconnect between who the character is and then the kind of story that you're writing.

So if you've got like a really bitter protagonist to a romance, it's already a very different feeling, right. Better protagonist to a romance, it's already a very different feeling, right. And so I think trying to think about exactly where your story fits in the genre and exactly how you can differentiate them and and sort of make your voice stand out, I guess, yeah, that still encompassing the I don't want to use the word is started, but the original vibe of the book, and I think that really comes into the things like word usage and how you want the reader to conceive what's going to be in the book yeah, and that's kind of one of those hard things about writing because you do have to adopt multiple perspectives, like you have to be you the author and you know what you want to have happen in your book.

Then you have to adopt multiple perspectives, like you have to be you the author and you know what you want to have happen in your book. Then you have to adopt your characters' perspectives and like develop them and think about what they would do. And then at some point you do need to zoom out and be like what's the reader going to think of this and how do I want them to feel? And you know it's really hard to hold all three of those perspectives at once, which is why we have planning if you're a planner, and we have the writing process and then the revision process and all that, right.

But yeah, I think, even like to use your example you said a romance with someone who's kind of bitter. You can totally do that if you want. Just do it with intention, right? Or do it knowing that that's the effect you're going to have, and then think about how that's going to be received in your genre and things like that. It's not like we're saying at least correct me if I'm wrong, isabel, but it's not like we're saying if you write romance it has to be a bubbly tone and mood. We're not saying that, it's just. You know, we're using examples and then we want you to think about it and make informed decisions and deliberate choices about how you wield these tools?

Definitely, yeah, I mean everything in our writing needs to be intentional. There has to be an actual reason behind anything that we do.

Yeah, including seven point of views.

Yes I love it people are gonna hear that and be like holy cow. Seven point of views. That's like you know. Usually people are like I want to do four or five and you just knock them out of the park with seven. I love it. I didn't say I did them. Well, yeah, I guess the readers will see. Time will tell right, but that's still like an ambitious thing to tackle. I love it. So I know you have a PDF download for listeners. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?

Yes, so I have a little freebie, that is, 10 ways to enhance your storytelling. So over the years, as an editor and writing coach, I've compiled all of these different things that I see writers struggling with, especially those early stages of their writing career. So if you struggle with things like showing and telling or pacing, that's going to be in the workbook and the mistakes it was all made.

So yeah, yeah, and it's kind of fun. I love roundups of common mistakes because it a it's like great to know when we're writing, but also it makes us feel normal when we're like, yeah, we've made eight out of 10 of these mistakes. Right, very normal, we all do it. So we'll put the link to how you can grab that PDF workbook in the show notes and then we'll also include where to find Isabel around the internet. But do you want to just tell us like what your website is and your main social media?

Yes, so I hang out on Instagram. I am at inspiredcreatedco underscore and my website is inspiredcreatedcocom. Love it.

And then finally, Isabel, is there any like last parting words of wisdom or anything top of mind that you want to share with listeners? Them or?

anything top of mind that you want to share with listeners. I think it's age-old advice, but just read, just devour books and try and assess what those authors are doing. Keep these four points in mind and go through your favorite book and see what they're doing.

Yeah, and it's also a great way to find out what you don't like too right? So if you're hearing Isabel talk about the short, snappy sentences versus the long ones and you read a book and you're like, I don't like the anxiety I feel when there's too many short, snappy sentences, that's great info too. So read to find out what you do like, what you don't like, where your book fits in the market, and I hope that this conversation today with Isabel helps us feel a little bit less overwhelmed with tone and mood, because I know they can be nebulous, but I think, when wielded to our advantage, they can be really awesome tools. So thank you, isabel, for coming on the show today. I'm so glad to have you here and, like I mentioned earlier, we will post all the links to where writers can find you all around the internet in the show notes. But again, just thank you so much for taking the time to come and share your expertise with us today. Thank you so much.

So that's it for today's episode. As always, thank you so much for tuning in and for showing your support. If you want to check out any of the links I mentioned in this episode, you can find them in the show notes listed in the description of each episode inside your podcast player or at savannahgilbocom forward slash podcast. If you're an Apple user, I'd really appreciate it if you took a few seconds to leave a rating and a review. Your ratings and reviews tell Apple that this is a podcast that's worth listening to and, in turn, your reviews will help this podcast get in front of more fiction writers just like you. And while you're there, go ahead and hit that follow button, because there's going to be another brand new episode next week, full of actionable tips, tools and strategies to help you become a better writer. So I'll see you next week and until then, happy writing.