* Writers try to project a certain voice onto the page. * Sometimes the writer assumes this voice deliberately, but often it is chosen for the writer by the psychology of audience and material – by the need and occasion that make the writing necessary.

* The relationship between feelings and tone is slippery but makes sense. It is only natural that our feelings about a subject or person should spill out onto the page and affect our tone. * Example: * Dear Monty, * I am really sick and tired of your mess. It’s embarrassing to walk into our room with a visitor and see your bed unmade, your clothes scattered all over the floor, and your beer cans making sticky rings on the table. I’ve told you before about this, but now I want you to know that if you don’t shape up, I’m moving out. * Bob

* Did you hear the angry tone in that note? What do you hear as tone in this ? * Hi Everyone, * I have just returned from my backpacking trip through Europe. You won’t believe the wonderful experiences I had. At one point I even lost my passport, but the American consulate was very helpful in getting me a temporary one. I met some exciting new friends, who, like me, were camping out or riding the second class compartments of the trains. The world is really a great place. Anyway, I’ll wait until I see you to fill in the details. I sure missed you. A bunch. * Irene

* The practical effect of tone on our writing is sometimes plainly evident and sometimes not. * We would expect that if we write a letter to a roommate we’re mad at, our tone will reflect that anger. * Less evident is the effect a feeling of boredom about an assignment might have on our tone. * It is only logical to assume that if we’re bored with the topic and think it a waste of our time, our tone will be affected for the worse.

* Be yourself when you write. * FYI – you do your best writing when you simply sound like yourself. * Don’t try to write in a voice that is not truly your own; don’t try to put on airs in your writing. If you do, your tone is bound to be affected by the pretense.

* Voice in writing is influenced by three factors under the writer’s control: * VOCABULARY * SYNTAX * ATTITUDE

* Conservative politician (self-righteous) * My fellow conservatives, the chicken crossed to steal a job from a decent, hardworking American. That is what these reckless left-wing chickens do. * Children’s book writer (nonsensical) * Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why he crossed, I've not been told!

* Ernest Hemingway (straightforward) * To die. In the rain. Alone. From an idée fixe (a fixation) * Grandpa (self-important) * In my day, we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

* Karl Marx (philosophical) * It was a historical inevitability. * Sigmund Freud (psychological) * All chickens cross the road for the same reason; sex. * Albert Einstein (ambiguous) * Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road cross under the chicken? * Colonel Sanders (miffed) * Darn! I missed one!

* Do yourself a favor and write without putting on airs or pretending to be a know-it-all. * Choose your words to inform, not to impress. * Faced with a choice between a big, little-known word and a smaller, better-know equivalent, choose the smaller one because more people will understand it. * Your overriding aim is to tell your reader what you know about the subject, not to impress. * Oddly enough, sophisticated readers are generally impressed by writing that is plain and to the point.

* It is the fate of those who toil at the lower employments of life, to be rather driven by the fear of evil, than attracted by the prospect of good; to be exposed to censure, without hope of praise; to be disgraced by miscarriage, or punished for neglect., where success would have been without applause, and diligence without reward. – Samuel Johnson, Preface to the dictionary of the English language (1755)

* It is the lot of those who work at the lower jobs of life, to be rather driven by the fear of evil, than drawn by the likelihood of good; to be open to criticism, without hop of praise; to be shamed by mistakes, or punished for neglect, where success would have been without recognition, and hard work without reward. * This is still haughty….it has knotty syntax!