One of the worst things that can happen in a story is when something happens in the story that feels completely out of place. It can be an out of character moment, something suddenly happening out of the blue, or the dreaded deus ex machina that deflates a climactic moment. Many authors are aware of such things and do their best to avoid such things. But a more subtle issue that might not be as apparent as the earlier examples is when the tone of the story suddenly shifts and ruins the flow of the story. Tonal whiplash is such a strong negative force upon a story’s narrative that it can turn someone away forever.
But what is tonal whiplash and how does it occur? It’s something that occurs when an event in the story occurs that doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the story that the reader would expect. To elaborate further, tone is the feeling and general theme of the story. Typically tone is something established early on in the story that gives the reader an idea of what they can expect. It can be tricky as the author may believe that it’s an important moment in the story or in the character’s development despite it not fitting the tone of the rest of the story. Even the notion of subverting expectations still has an element of tonal consistency that keeps the story enjoyable.
The important factor to avoiding tonal whiplash is to understand what kind of story you’re trying to tell and the general feeling of it. But just because it’s one type of story doesn’t mean it can’t have moments that are very different. A dramatic story can still have moments of levity and humor and, in fact, that helps to create a bit of contrast and help make the characters more endearing and likeable. The key thing is to make sure these moments still fit within the narrative because if they don’t, it creates a kind of confusing dissonance that leads to a bit of confusion. A good example of this going wrong is Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina. The first two episodes paint the series as a fun, silly and joyful adventure of a young witch traveling the world. But the two episodes afterwards are way darker than one would have expected with sad and somber endings. This would have been fine if they changed Elaina’s character or continued the story with this tone but then it went back to fun and silly adventures with a sudden dark and bloody episode tossed in that didn’t fit the other stories at all. It made for a very weird and inconsistent story that makes Elaina seem like a terrible person when in reality the writer is clearly trying to not do that.
That’s not to say you can have variety in the story being told. A comedic or slice of life style story can still have moments of dramatic tension just as a dramatic story can still have moments of levity and joy. The important thing is understanding that these moments of contrast still need to fit within the overall feeling of the story and contribute in a meaningful way. An example I personally enjoy is one of my favorite shows I’ve watched recently called Secrets of the Silent Witch. Monica is a very shy and anxious character and the story bounces between slice of life silliness with moments of serious drama. The thing that makes this works so well is that there is an overall story arc and character development that these story moments contribute to that add to the story rather than feel out of place. The moments that Monica acts like a serious protagonist fit very well despite being such a silly, shy and anxious character because it’s established early and thus never feels out of place.
Tonal inconsistency is a very dangerous problem for writers as it can turn people off of a story no matter how well written it is. It’s important to remember that often it is more important that a story feel consistent and have a logical flow more than having really cool and exciting moments. There have been several scenes that I’ve cut from my own novels just for that reason. Ultimately, creating that kind of tonal consistency will lead to a much more enjoyable story.
– Raphael
Raph's Cozy Musings 