Comments on: Voice and Tone: Writing to reflect your personality as well as your message (Part 1)

By: » Have you ever tried to eat ice cream with a fork? Copywriting for the Web | Web Development Blog: Heidi Adams Cool

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:33:51 +0000

[...] Voice and Tone: Writing to reflect your personality as well as your message (Part 1) [...]

By: » Voice and Tone: Writing to reflect your personality as well as your message (Part 2 | Web Development Blog: Heidi Adams Cool)

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 02:29:03 +0000

[...] I first broached this topic in October, I wrote about tone. Today, I'll focus on voice, that certain aspect of writing that conveys the personality and/or [...]

By: Voice tone and attraction

Voice tone and attraction — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 10:48:02 +0000

The truth is when it comes to voice tone the topic is like so wide! I just had no idea that you can have a voice tone when writing. For me tone is during speaking.

By: gretchenaro

gretchenaro — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:15:42 +0000

My title amongst friend is Underminer but Instigator is good too. Smilies are definitely one adorable little crutch used by those who don't believe they have the ability to make themselves understood. That being said, I still thing they're really cute.

By: Heidi Cool

Heidi Cool — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:44:04 +0000

Gretchen, Always the instigator, eh? For hundreds and hundreds of years the human species has corresponded on paper and parchment without the need of smileys, yet somehow even before Usenet News and e-mail become popular, the smiley's started creeping in. Do you think this is a result of people wanting a quicker way to communicate, or more that online communication is more casual—sometimes more sloppy—and the smileys came to substitute for more carefully written prose? Reference

By: gretchenaro

gretchenaro — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:56:27 +0000

Couldn't you just use smilies to show what tone you're in?

By: Heidi Cool

Heidi Cool — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:33:45 +0000

That's not a bad idea. I've been pondering part 2 with an idea to focus on voice. My thought is that voice is the voice of the reader. In theory a writer could write an essay, a short story and a brochure and some constant voice would be recognizable throughout. Yet it would also adjust to the demands of the particular work. So I might use my inside voice to blog and my outside voice for billboards.

By: Wayne Smallman

Wayne Smallman — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:04:49 +0000

I suppose you could (for part 2) offer a list of types of writing (sales, marketing, news, academic et cetera) and suggest what voice and tone to use...

By: Heidi Cool

Heidi Cool — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:02:19 +0000

Indeed, this topic is as massive as a Wooly Mammoth. I tried to tackle a bite size portion, but it was still a mouthful. I think you are right that there are many other variables. I've touched on vocabulary a few other times, and will try to add other related topics in the future. Not sure how I'll address the subject of brevity though. That's not a topic in which bolog entries excel! Though I could address it in terms of matching the amount of copy to the goal. My initial thought is short and pithy (or other appropriate tone) for an advertisement, longer for something expository.

By: Wayne Smallman

Wayne Smallman — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:26:02 +0000

Well, I'll start with with a: "Wow, this is a massive topic!" and then a good example of terrible tone: "Hi! We bury dead people, and we've been doing it for, like .. years! So when it's time, bring your parents along. We offer a two for the price of one deal if one parent dies within the same financial year as the other. How's that for peace of mind?!" I agree that there is a clear distinction between voice and tone. They're not at all interchangeable. What I would add is that there are other variables that fall outside of voice and tone, but also have a very real impact on the readability of the passage of text; such as the length of the article and the use of paragraphs (concise being easier to read), for example...