How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

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How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#1 Post by Seiza »

Hello everyone! Lately, i've been trying out my skills in writing, so i took up a challenge to write anything my friends requested.
I did most of them well, however, i am struggling with my latest request:
Write a Slice of Life/Realistic story.
It seemed simple at first, but as i started writing, i noticed, it was getting more and more boring
I don't blame myself, since my specialty in writing is Psychological, Tragedy, and Fantasy, so i thought of incorporating a Psychological theme into it, but middway he requested not to add anything like that (they know that most of my stories are usually among those genres, and so they wanted to challenge me a bit more)

So, my question is, How do i write a slice of life story that will actually peak the reader's interest, without adding dark themes to it?

Any response would be much appreciated!

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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#2 Post by RotGtIE »

Slice-Of-Life does not necessarily mean "nothing happens." Your average western TV sit-com could be described as a slice-of-life show as long as nothing especially outrageous happens in it. Hell, if you ask the typical western TV viewer to think of a show whereby nothing in particular happens, the answer you'll most frequently get is going to be Seinfeld.

What makes or breaks a story which does not actually have a major overarching plot are the personalities of the characters. Even though there is no "plot" to a slice-of-life story, there are still episodic events which put the cast into positions which give them opportunities to react and show us what they are like. Take Yotsuba & Co., since it is the quintessential example of the SoL genre. Even though nothing in particular is happening over the course of the entire series, each episode generally takes a handful of the characters on a mundane little adventure, and through the characters' reactions to the events and to each other, we learn more about what they are like, and hopefully enjoy the process, knowing that there is no real destination.

Usually in a plot-driven story, the "So What" question is much more imperative to answer clearly to the reader, yet it is also easier to do so. That doesn't mean there is no "So What" in the SoL genre, it just takes the form of "Why should I care to read about the daily lives of these characters? What will they do to entertain me?" And that's the key. SoL switches up the usual formula, forcing the author to create interesting characters by accepting the challenge of taking on absolutely no plot at all, or a plot too mundane to draw in the readers on its merit alone.

Thus, your constant challenge is to answer the question "Will the readers be sufficiently amused by what these characters do to forgive the complete lack of a plot?" The moment your characters cease to amuse your readers is the moment you no longer have a slice-of-life, but a truly dull story-about-nothing.

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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#3 Post by Applegate »

What have you got right now? Lay it on us and we can help you figure out what can be done to your process to make it more interesting for you.

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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#4 Post by trooper6 »

Well, what is the conflict of the story? Just because it is a Slice-of-life doesn't mean it shouldn't have a plot.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#5 Post by Dragonstar89 »

I believe a Slice-of-Lice can only be engaging if one (or both) of two things is achieved: it hits home to more than one person, or it describes events that one isn't familiar with but believes in - leaving them to keep reading on.

Many SOLs are also associated with Comedy & Romance - two joyous things that make people happy but in the advantage of the writer can also be a tragic thing. My basis of writing SOLs is to make the story, the characters, and the setting be alive from the first words and keep it breathing until you denounce it. That can easily be done and not boring by having lots of joyous themes throughout that lead to a arguably tragic curve that quickly (but not too fast) gets mended. If you're writing just a lazy, lax SOL though that has no twist or turns, all you need to do is make the characters embark on an "Adventure" often; but I don't mean like they get a pirate ship and sail seas. Mainly I like to think of people who operate a flower shop in the country; hardly any business so they usually just sit around, talk, eat some snacks, etc., just waiting for customers to arrive. All those things in the former are boring, so while they're there to make the SOL "breathe" they do some adventure, like participate in a flower contest or something to remove the boring factor.

So if it's boring, that's fine. Those aspects keep everything alive. Just as long as you can make things relatable to the reader and/or convey emotions in the usual human-like fashion, or add flavorful "adventures" to the cast, it should turn out fine.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#6 Post by trooper6 »

Also, what do you mean by "psychological?"
You wanted to add "psychological" elements and your friend didn't want you to.
Do you mean psychological as in: exploring the inner feelings and motivations of your character?
Do you mean psychological as in: psychological thriller where the protagonist may be a serial killer?
Do you mean psychological as in: I'm going to make the character really depressed and make the story about depression?

Oh and here are some links about Slice of Life that may be helpful:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SliceOfLife
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?di ... 600&page=1
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/12/jus ... ories.html

Also, it seems that "Slice of Life" has a slightly different meaning when talking about a specific subset of Japanese anime than more generally. Does your friend want you to write a slice of life more generally, which could be like the comic book Love and Rockets (which has plot and conflict and is a bit dark at times full of messed up ex-punk rockers), or is what they want the Japanese anime subset "cute girls do cute things?" Or does your friend just want you to write something that isn't depressing and that's why they asked for Slice of Life? Knowing what your friend actually wants and why might help you figure out what to do with the story.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#7 Post by Kuiper »

"Conflict" is pretty foundational to storytelling, even when it comes to stories without a lot of drama or high stakes. It can simply mean that we have a status quo, and one or more characters who are unsatisfied with that status quo and working to change it.

Sometimes, the status quo is "the person who murdered my family is on the loose," and the solution we're working toward is "bring the killer to justice." But the problem could also be something like, "Our school club is going to be forced to disband if we can't get ten names on our roster," and the solution is "get ten names on the roster by the end of the semester."

I'd begin by asking yourself: what does the protagonist want, and what is keeping them from achieving it?

For example, the Jerry Spinelli book "Dump Days" is about two boys who are on summer vacation. What do they want to do? Have fun! (It's summer vacation; they're bored.) What's keeping them from having fun? They don't have any money, and things like ice cream and movies and video games cost money. All of the subplots in the book involve them finding ways to get money: performing odd jobs, entrepreneurship, etc.

You don't have to lay all of your cards on the table from the very start of the story, and in fact it's perfectly acceptable to mislead readers about the direction that the story is taking. For example, in Spinelli's "Dump Days," all of the boys' attempts to make money end up failing. But at the end of the summer they look back and realize that they actually had a lot of fun running around the town trying to do anything they could to get money. On a basic level, they got what they were looking for: instead of having a boring summer of doing nothing, they had a fun summer of performing odd tasks. But they achieved their goal in an unexpected way.


Some conflicts are strictly internal and deal with personal drama. For example, take the 1980 film "Ordinary People." (If you have any interest in film, I personally recommend seeing it for yourself; it won numerous academy awards and it is a really well-told story.) The film is about a family that endures several major events:
one of their teenage sons dies, and the other attempts suicide
. These are pretty significant events, but the film doesn't actually depict them: the movie is about what happens after this traumatic event. It's a film about the grieving process, therapy, and struggles of trying to live a normal life after experiencing intense emotional trauma. From the start of the film to the end, there isn't much change in terms of the family's physical circumstances. But there is significant emotional development.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#8 Post by Seiza »

RotGtIE wrote: What makes or breaks a story which does not actually have a major overarching plot are the personalities of the characters. Even though there is no "plot" to a slice-of-life story, there are still episodic events which put the cast into positions which give them opportunities to react and show us what they are like. Take Yotsuba & Co., since it is the quintessential example of the SoL genre. Even though nothing in particular is happening over the course of the entire series, each episode generally takes a handful of the characters on a mundane little adventure, and through the characters' reactions to the events and to each other, we learn more about what they are like, and hopefully enjoy the process, knowing that there is no real destination.

Usually in a plot-driven story, the "So What" question is much more imperative to answer clearly to the reader, yet it is also easier to do so. That doesn't mean there is no "So What" in the SoL genre, it just takes the form of "Why should I care to read about the daily lives of these characters? What will they do to entertain me?" And that's the key. SoL switches up the usual formula, forcing the author to create interesting characters by accepting the challenge of taking on absolutely no plot at all, or a plot too mundane to draw in the readers on its merit alone.

Thus, your constant challenge is to answer the question "Will the readers be sufficiently amused by what these characters do to forgive the complete lack of a plot?" The moment your characters cease to amuse your readers is the moment you no longer have a slice-of-life, but a truly dull story-about-nothing.
Thank you for this! Basically with what i understand is that if you want the audience to forgive the lack of plot, i should focus on the characters more and how they interest the readers. I guess that's fair enough, i'll have to pump up on the character development and their actions throughout the story.
Dragonstar89 wrote:I believe a Slice-of-Lice can only be engaging if one (or both) of two things is achieved: it hits home to more than one person, or it describes events that one isn't familiar with but believes in - leaving them to keep reading on.

Many SOLs are also associated with Comedy & Romance - two joyous things that make people happy but in the advantage of the writer can also be a tragic thing. My basis of writing SOLs is to make the story, the characters, and the setting be alive from the first words and keep it breathing until you denounce it. That can easily be done and not boring by having lots of joyous themes throughout that lead to a arguably tragic curve that quickly (but not too fast) gets mended. If you're writing just a lazy, lax SOL though that has no twist or turns, all you need to do is make the characters embark on an "Adventure" often; but I don't mean like they get a pirate ship and sail seas. Mainly I like to think of people who operate a flower shop in the country; hardly any business so they usually just sit around, talk, eat some snacks, etc., just waiting for customers to arrive. All those things in the former are boring, so while they're there to make the SOL "breathe" they do some adventure, like participate in a flower contest or something to remove the boring factor.

So if it's boring, that's fine. Those aspects keep everything alive. Just as long as you can make things relatable to the reader and/or convey emotions in the usual human-like fashion, or add flavorful "adventures" to the cast, it should turn out fine.
Well with what i understand of this, i guess you have to make the plot/setting/characters realistic enough to be relatable to others? though as a writer of fiction it might be hard to achieve, but i'll accept the challenge.
For the earlier part of your paragraph, that's what i usually do though, it's nice to see the readers fooled into thinking it's some light story, but then twist and turn it into anything you please that will leave them shocked *evil laugh*. Though now since that privilage is renounced from me for the time being, i guess i'll have to find another way.
And thank you for pointing out the "Adventure" part of the SOL genre. I didn't notice it until you told e,and i realize that most SOLs involve the characters going out to an "adventure" which would last from an episode to and entire arc, and it usually keeps the viewers moving. I now have a way to beef up the plot. Thanks :D
trooper6 wrote:Also, what do you mean by "psychological?"
You wanted to add "psychological" elements and your friend didn't want you to.
Do you mean psychological as in: exploring the inner feelings and motivations of your character?
Do you mean psychological as in: psychological thriller where the protagonist may be a serial killer?
Do you mean psychological as in: I'm going to make the character really depressed and make the story about depression?

Oh and here are some links about Slice of Life that may be helpful:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SliceOfLife
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?di ... 600&page=1
http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/12/jus ... ories.html

Also, it seems that "Slice of Life" has a slightly different meaning when talking about a specific subset of Japanese anime than more generally. Does your friend want you to write a slice of life more generally, which could be like the comic book Love and Rockets (which has plot and conflict and is a bit dark at times full of messed up ex-punk rockers), or is what they want the Japanese anime subset "cute girls do cute things?" Or does your friend just want you to write something that isn't depressing and that's why they asked for Slice of Life? Knowing what your friend actually wants and why might help you figure out what to do with the story.
The Psychological genres i write usually involve all 3 hehe *evil grin*
What i think my friend wants me to write though is something light, since you're right about my friend not wanting me to write something depressing (wonders how much terror they have already felt in reading)
Thank you for the articles! I guess they'll help me out somehow.
Kuiper wrote:"Conflict" is pretty foundational to storytelling, even when it comes to stories without a lot of drama or high stakes. It can simply mean that we have a status quo, and one or more characters who are unsatisfied with that status quo and working to change it.

Sometimes, the status quo is "the person who murdered my family is on the loose," and the solution we're working toward is "bring the killer to justice." But the problem could also be something like, "Our school club is going to be forced to disband if we can't get ten names on our roster," and the solution is "get ten names on the roster by the end of the semester."

I'd begin by asking yourself: what does the protagonist want, and what is keeping them from achieving it?

For example, the Jerry Spinelli book "Dump Days" is about two boys who are on summer vacation. What do they want to do? Have fun! (It's summer vacation; they're bored.) What's keeping them from having fun? They don't have any money, and things like ice cream and movies and video games cost money. All of the subplots in the book involve them finding ways to get money: performing odd jobs, entrepreneurship, etc.

You don't have to lay all of your cards on the table from the very start of the story, and in fact it's perfectly acceptable to mislead readers about the direction that the story is taking. For example, in Spinelli's "Dump Days," all of the boys' attempts to make money end up failing. But at the end of the summer they look back and realize that they actually had a lot of fun running around the town trying to do anything they could to get money. On a basic level, they got what they were looking for: instead of having a boring summer of doing nothing, they had a fun summer of performing odd tasks. But they achieved their goal in an unexpected way.


Some conflicts are strictly internal and deal with personal drama. For example, take the 1980 film "Ordinary People." (If you have any interest in film, I personally recommend seeing it for yourself; it won numerous academy awards and it is a really well-told story.) The film is about a family that endures several major events:
one of their teenage sons dies, and the other attempts suicide
. These are pretty significant events, but the film doesn't actually depict them: the movie is about what happens after this traumatic event. It's a film about the grieving process, therapy, and struggles of trying to live a normal life after experiencing intense emotional trauma. From the start of the film to the end, there isn't much change in terms of the family's physical circumstances. But there is significant emotional development.
Thank you so much for this! You just pointed out how to solve my main problem! *jumps up and down*
I Mainly Had an Issue with adding conflict to the story, and i thought of it too much that i didn't think it could be something that simple! I can't thank you enough, i now have a way to create a greater plot. :D

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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#9 Post by trooper6 »

Seiza wrote:
trooper6 wrote:Also, what do you mean by "psychological?"
You wanted to add "psychological" elements and your friend didn't want you to.
Do you mean psychological as in: exploring the inner feelings and motivations of your character?
Do you mean psychological as in: psychological thriller where the protagonist may be a serial killer?
Do you mean psychological as in: I'm going to make the character really depressed and make the story about depression?
The Psychological genres i write usually involve all 3 hehe *evil grin*
What i think my friend wants me to write though is something light, since you're right about my friend not wanting me to write something depressing (wonders how much terror they have already felt in reading)
Thank you for the articles! I guess they'll help me out somehow.
Well know we are onto something...something I suspected to be honest. Your friend doesn't *really* want you to write a slice of life story, they *really* want you to write something light with no horror, depression, or angst. Ordinary People is a great film and it is slice of life...and it is depressing. I don't think if you delivered a slice of life story about someone slowly dying of AIDS your friend would be pleased. I suspect you could probably get away with quite a lot of plot as long as the vibe is upbeat and heartwarming. You can also probably get away with quite a lot of internal exploration of the character's psyche...as long as the characters are well adjusted, not depressed or angsty, and generally happy. Heartwarming coming of age stories.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#10 Post by Ghost #9 »

Slice of Life is a difficult genre for me as well. It just doesn't strike me as very exciting or engaging, and my mind tends to latch onto more fantastical themes. However, just the other day I watched a VERY good example of the SoL genre done properly. There is a feature length anime film called Wolf Children that I believe you should take a look at. I can't give you much advice having never written anything in the genre myself, but one of the best pieces of advice when it comes to writing within any genre is to look at examples of existing works that are done well. And possibly also ones that are done poorly, so you can see what NOT to do. :P

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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#11 Post by Taleweaver »

Ghost #9 wrote:Slice of Life is a difficult genre for me as well. It just doesn't strike me as very exciting or engaging, and my mind tends to latch onto more fantastical themes. However, just the other day I watched a VERY good example of the SoL genre done properly. There is a feature length anime film called Wolf Children that I believe you should take a look at. I can't give you much advice having never written anything in the genre myself, but one of the best pieces of advice when it comes to writing within any genre is to look at examples of existing works that are done well. And possibly also ones that are done poorly, so you can see what NOT to do. :P
Quite a few Ghibli movies fall into the Slice of Life category as well, "Whisper of the Heart" probably the one with the smallest, most personal story behind it. Other examples are Only Yesterday, Grave of the Fireflies (a slice of life in war), Ocean Waves, My Neighbors the Yamadas and From Up on Poppy Hill.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#12 Post by Seiza »

Taleweaver wrote:
Ghost #9 wrote:Slice of Life is a difficult genre for me as well. It just doesn't strike me as very exciting or engaging, and my mind tends to latch onto more fantastical themes. However, just the other day I watched a VERY good example of the SoL genre done properly. There is a feature length anime film called Wolf Children that I believe you should take a look at. I can't give you much advice having never written anything in the genre myself, but one of the best pieces of advice when it comes to writing within any genre is to look at examples of existing works that are done well. And possibly also ones that are done poorly, so you can see what NOT to do. :P
Quite a few Ghibli movies fall into the Slice of Life category as well, "Whisper of the Heart" probably the one with the smallest, most personal story behind it. Other examples are Only Yesterday, Grave of the Fireflies (a slice of life in war), Ocean Waves, My Neighbors the Yamadas and From Up on Poppy Hill.
Ah, how could i forget the Studio Ghibili classics? There were some that i liked, but i guess that's not all. Currently, the story writing i'm doing is going well, but if ever i lose inspiration i know where to look for it. Thanks!

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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#13 Post by czxcjx »

Firstly, fantasy and flights of fancy are not distinct from slice-of-life, since dreaming is itself a part of life. See the short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

The greatest slice-of-life book in the world is probably Ulysses by James Joyce, both being a realistic slice of life in the most literal sense of the word, and completely not being about any kind of realistic life at all.

But if you're going by the definition that is common to Visual Novels and Anime, which is to catalogue the nothing-happens of everyday life, your go to guide is probably Chekhov's Theater, which is about the slow rising undercurrents of banality and ennui that eat into our normal social interactions and activity. The most sliciest of lifiest person in the world is also Marcel Proust, who wrote pages upon pages of verbal candy about his entire childhood and life and everything around him. He doesn't just go into events, but sensations, histories of the people around him, histories of the city he lives in, political histories, random musings and ramblings on the state of things around him, ruminations on small observances etc...

The main point being that its less in concept and more in execution, since a slice-of-life story doesn't have the intellectual puzzle-box thrill of entangling a mystery or seeing a bunch of strategies unfold in huge battles. Slice-of-Life is about observation, which means that you must have that keen eye to catch every single small detail of information around you (which brings up another writer who excels in that, David Foster Wallace) and weave a complex web of small gestures.

There's a line from Salinger's Franny and Zooey I want to quote here, which when I saw it was astounding:
Franny was among the first of the girls to get off the train, from a car at the far, northern end of the platform. Lane spotted her immediately, and despite whatever it was he was trying to do with his face, his arm that shot up into the air was the whole truth. Franny saw it, and him, and waved extravagantly back
In this line everything is captured, from the social posturing we try to carry out to gain credit with others, to the overwhelming rising feeling of happiness that breaks through all that when we see a good friend or lover, to a gesture of overwhelming joy. That is the essence of Slice of Life.
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Re: How to write an Interesting Slice of Life Story

#14 Post by Akai85 »

It's a common misconception that slice of life is boring but it isn't, it just follows a different narrative structure. Instead of one large arc you get smaller narrative arcs interwoven through the daily life of a person with constants (things that do not change or slowly change) in contrast to the smaller narratives. Most comedy shows are slice of life, you know.

I really like slice of life because I see it as an homage to experience and I usually find the events in sol more relatable than fantasy and stuff. It is an underappreciated genre though. The key is to focus on not the experiences themselves - which sure, might be boring - but the way they are coloured by the individual narrating them. Their biases, prejudices, the fondness shown in their memory for cherished events, the way they conformed or didn't conform to society and especially what they thought of others.

The ghibli movies mentioned before, 5cm per second and wolfs children (was that it?) are all movies I greatly enjoyed. To enjoy them though you can't approach them as a "story" but as an "experience." The first time I watched some sol movies I found them really boring but now they've become something of an acquired taste. :lol:

It's also interesting to note that a lot of not sol works will have sol episodes and deviations occasionally. And people usually like these because they give them an insight into the character. When you write about sol you might find it easier to write something touching and evocative and not boring by relating it to your own experiences.
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