365 days of writing prompts

10 writing prompts to explore tone and mood in your story.

Welcome to Day 13! You’ve built your story’s structure, shaped its rhythm, and chosen its perspective. Now it’s time to explore —the emotional. I’ll call it the color of your storytelling.

Tone is the writer’s attitude toward the story; mood is how the story affects the reader’s emotions. Both work together to create atmosphere, feeling, and meaning. They set the stage for how readers experience your world. Add warmth and nostalgia, sharpness and chill or another combination of tone to elicit emotion from your readers.

I found two articles to share with you on the topic of tone and emotion. This is one of them, and this is the other.

Today’s prompts will help you paint your story’s emotional landscape with confidence and depth.

1. The Tone Test
   Take a scene and rewrite it twice. First, use a hopeful tone. Then, use a somber one. How does the meaning shift?
2. The Mood Board
   Choose five sensory details (sounds, textures, colors, scents, or tastes) that capture your story’s mood. Write a paragraph using at least three or more.
3. The Emotional Palette
   Pick one emotion, like wonder, grief, or longing. Show that feeling through your scene’s actions and atmosphere, not by naming it.
4. The Weather Mirror
   Use the weather to show tone or mood. What’s the emotional forecast in your scene?
5. The Word Choice Shift
   Describe the same place twice. First, using soft, gentle words, then using harsh or clipped ones. How does tone rewrite the world?
6. The Subtle Undercurrent
   Write a cheerful scene with a quiet thread of unease running beneath it. Let mood whisper instead of shout.
7. The Opposite Feel
   Use mismatched tone and content. Describe a tragedy in light, lyrical language. Alternatively, narrate a joyful moment in cold, restrained prose. What happens? You never know when you will need an unreliable narrator.
8. The Character Filter
   Let mood flow through your character’s senses. How does their mindset color the world around them?
9. The Emotional Echo
   End a scene with one lingering image. You can use sound or a line that leaves readers feeling the mood. This effect lasts long after it ends.
10. The Signature Tone
    What tone feels most “you” as a writer—tender, dramatic, whimsical, mysterious? Write one short scene that embodies your natural voice.

Tone and mood are where craft becomes art. They give your story its soul, shaping not just what readers know, but what they feel. Today, write with color, rhythm, and heart. Let your words paint emotions that stay long after the last line fades.

Leave a comment. Tell me which prompt you liked best. Let me know how it helped you with your writing.