Where the term comes from
The Poetry Foundation defines tone as the poet's attitude toward the speaker, reader and subject matter, as interpreted by the reader, and says it is created by vocabulary, syntax, figurative language and rhyme. Wikipedia gives a similar account for prose: the tone of a literary work expresses the writer's attitude toward or feelings about the subject matter and audience.
Mood is a different matter. Wikipedia's article on mood defines it as the emotion or feeling that the language evokes in the audience, created through setting, the attitude of the narrator or characters, and description. It states plainly that tone and mood are not the same: tone is the speaker's or narrator's attitude toward the subject, while mood is the general feeling the writing creates in the reader. Merriam-Webster lists the expression of a state of mind or emotion in art or literature among the senses of mood, as well as a distinctive atmosphere.
An example
Two writers describe the same scene, a family gathering in a flooded kitchen the day after a funeral. In Beatrix Lund's version, the narrator is wry and affectionate: "Nobody mentioned the carpet, which had gone to the sea." The tone is gentle humour, and the mood is warm, with an undercurrent of grief. In Joaquim Reyes's version, the narrator is clipped and watchful: "The water had reached the third stair. Nobody spoke." The tone is detached and the mood is dread. The facts are the same, the water is the same, and the two readers leave with different feelings because the attitude toward the facts differs.
Common mistakes
- Using the two words as synonyms and then not knowing which one to fix in revision.
- Naming the mood in the narration ("it was a gloomy night") instead of building it through setting and detail.
- Letting the tone wander within a scene without purpose, so a joke breaks a solemn moment by accident.
- Assuming a cheerful tone must create a cheerful mood. A light narrator describing a terrible event can unsettle the reader.
- Changing setting details to alter mood while leaving the narrator's attitude at odds with them.
How to check your manuscript
Read a key scene and write two words for the narrator's attitude and two for the feeling you want the reader to have. If they match by default, ask whether a gap would be stronger. If the reader's feeling is not what you wrote, look at the setting and the specific words describing it. For related terms, see theme, pacing, point of view and show, don't tell.
In Musael, world and characters keeps entries for places, so you can store the details that give a setting its atmosphere and reuse them from scene to scene.