#thesis 2

Jullien introduced the term not long after a staging of his play The Serenade, as noted by Wayne S. Turney in his essay "Notes on Naturalism in the Theatre":

The Serenade was introduced by the Théâtre Libre in 1887. It is a prime example of rosserie, that is, plays dealing with corrupt, morally bankrupt characters who seem to be respectable, "smiling, smiling, damned villains..." Jullien gave us the famous apothegm defining naturalism in his The Living Theatre (1892): "A play is a slice of life put onstage with art." He goes on to say that "...our purpose is not to create laughter, but thought." He felt that the story of a play does not end with the curtain, which is "only an arbitrary interruption of the action which leaves the spectator free to speculate about what goes on beyond your expectation..."[3]

In literary parlance, the term "slice of life" refers to a storytelling technique that presents a seemingly arbitrary sample of a character's life, which often lacks a coherent plot, conflict, or ending.[8] The story may have little plot progress and often has no exposition, conflict, or dénouement, but rather has an open ending. A work that focuses on a minute and faithful reproduction of some bit of reality, without selection, organization, or judgment, and where every small detail is presented with scientific fidelity, is an example of the "slice of life" novel.[9]

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In slice-of-life fiction, the story focuses on a short episode in a character’s life, usually incorporating mundane aspects of their daily routine as a way to discuss the character’s interior world. It doesn’t generally emphasize plot development - or it at least always plays second fiddle to character development - Slice-of-life graphic novels have this way of always feeling cozy (????); even when characters are dealing with tough topics, those topics are human-sized and usually catalyze growth and resilience.

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Slice of life, such as: episode of actual experience, faithful rendering, graphic account, lifelikeness, naturalistic description, and photographic realism.

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The appeal of slice of life is that it allows you to take in a lot of different things without having to form an opinion about them.

You can just let stuff happen without worrying about how it means anything or what it means for your character’s story arc.

In some ways, slice of life can be more relaxing than other genres because it doesn’t require you to think about what you’re watching or try to analyze it at all. (what kind of take is this???)

The stories typically do not focus on events that occur during the course of the day, but rather on small interactions between the characters. These interactions may include conversation or other forms of communication, such as phone calls and text messages.

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What is slice of life? It is a storytelling genre defined by the tone, scope, and subject matter it chooses to focus on.

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so that leaves us with chapters of slice of life, contrary to popular opinion, slice of life is not a type of artistic medium like comics and tv series. it is what i think of as a derailment of a plot. (hm.) in most works a plot derails a slice of life. so slice-of-life is extremely dependent on your stories pace, your writing technique, your POV and most of all the capability of having more than one plot or a sub-plot.

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I, for one, do not want to read a novel like that. I want it to make sense, to have a purpose, for the character to face whatever odds to resolve her internal issues as she meets her main challenge and either masters it or dies trying. I am giving up a piece of my life to expereince the story--make it worth my while.

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A story has to go somewhere. There has to be a purpose. Just making up characters and having them 'do things' isn't a story. You're throwing away your characters because you don't know what to do with them. There's a method to plotting.

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don't understand this question, but I will try to answer. First, you ask: Is there such a thing as a "slice of life" novel. I would say yes. The books that come to mind are Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House On The Prairie" books, because they don't really have a plot so much as they just tell what day-to-day life was like when she was growing up. - Don't be a snob and dismiss these books as being for children. I was in my 40s before I read them, and I realized how wrong I'd been. Though they can certainly be enjoyed by children, they are extremely enjoyable for adults as well.

Next you ask: Is it weird to create characters and put them in various situations? I have no idea. If it serves the story, of course. If you're just trying to add to your page count, no.

I think you might be concerned about having a thin plot. Padding it with pointless characters is not going to help. Some books are plot-driven, some are character-driven. Some are more of a meditation on a theme. There are many "right" ways to tell a story. Don't be didactic. Maybe your book doesn't need a complicated plot.

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Do what you feel like doing. Better still, do what you'd like to read. If it's weird, that may be a good sign.