As a reader, I’m often in the mood for a particular tone of story. If I’m coming back from a long day of work, I might be interested in something more fast-paced and easy to digest. But if I’m in an introspective mood, I might want something more profound that will change the way I think.

Today, we’re introducing tonal indicators to stories on JBR to help with this exact problem.

What are tonal indicators?

A tonal indicator is somewhere between a genre and a content warning. It does not tell you exactly what a story is about (sci-fi, thriller, romance) nor does it tell you specific characteristics of a story (depictions of gore, drug use, depression). Instead, it tells you what you should expect out of it.

For example, if the story is an action-packed adventure, you might want to be in the headspace of expecting something rather intense. But if its a slow slice of life comedy, I might want to be prepared to be relaxed and not constantly stimulated.

A tonal indicator is marked by three categories: “Intense”, “Casual”, and “Wholesome”. As time goes on, we may end up adding more than these three. But I think this covers just about all the work JBR currently has available.

Why tonal indicators for JBR

I’ve been considering something like tonal indicators for JBR for quite some time. Some of our bigger stories, such as Boys & Girls and Baby Bird, start slow and may give some readers the wrong impression on their intensity. In other cases, seasoned readers might be confused when they read something like Can You Find It In Your Heart? and learn that it is indeed a nice, wholesome coming-of-age tale with no big punches.

This sort of tonal whiplash was never intended to be part of the experience. Indeed, I believe JBR stories are best read when you do have some idea of what you’re getting into, because you’re given the option to filter into what you know you’d like in that given moment.

How to find tonal indicators on story pages

Tonal indicators are easy to spot. On a project’s homepage, under “Tag(s)”, you’ll see a new line called “Tone”:

This will be where you find the tone for a specific project. Tones are being added over time, so they may not appear for all stories on Day 1!