  Short Stories
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“If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me."
William Shakespeare
“All the traditional rules of storytelling have been broken in this wonderful story of twenty pages or so. (referring to Chekhov's "The Lady with the Dog") There is no problem, no climax, no point at the end. And it is one of the greatest stories ever written."
Vladimir Nabokov
Hello, I am Joy , your guest editor for this week. In this issue, we are going to take a look at writing the slice-of-life stories. |
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter
What if you strayed from the classic three-to-five-act setup of accustomed short-story plot structure and drifted into your own way of telling the story you want to tell?
Every now and then, in search of innovation, a group of authors steer away from convention to start a new ritual. The French have done this with the anti-novel during the end of the eighteenth century when novelists freed the readers from their habitual expectations; however, what we are going to look into today is not any novel form, but the slice-of-life story, a popular short-story style that defies tradition. The French call it, tranche de vie.
When we say slice-of-life, most people take it as an episode of actual experience, but a slice-of-life story need not be actual or personal; it can be a fictional story. Such a story may not have the conventional beginning, middle, and end, although it still needs to be an uninterrupted story with a steady flow.
A slice-of-life story is a fleeting glance at reality and is usually character-based. At times, it sounds as if it is a cut-off from a larger story, even though it can very well stand on its own. Like a vignette, a slice-of-life story may center in the exploration of an idea, a character, or a mood, and it may be written in the stream of consciousness style.
Slice-of-life stories are open-ended, but their appeal lies in their dramatic descriptions and the in-depth look into ordinary situations. Frequently, they are written to explore a theme, and often, lyricism and artistry abounds in their writing, but this type of stories may also be told in a straightforward and brusque manner.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros is one book-length slice-of-life story about the main character Esperanza Cordero who would love to have a room of her own in a house she can be proud of, but she also cannot let go of the memories of the humble home on Mango Street where she grew up.
Other examples to slice-of-life stories are One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and A Day's Wait by Ernest Hemingway.
If you are writing a slice-of-life story from actual experience, a few points to consider are:
• Make a point or describe in detail what makes you feel deeply. Tell or imply why you are writing what you are writing.
• Use the senses and employ tangible images to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind.
• Let the reader look closely into whatever it is you are telling and who you are.
If you are writing a fictional piece, you might consider taking these tips into account:
• Interesting characters and rich settings enhance this type of a story.
• To start the story, select an interesting character, a mood, or a moment. Although this type of a story is freer than a traditional one, you’ll still need to establish a set-up, but the set-up need not be a conflict or a major problem to be solved. For example, your main character may just look at the clouds and wonder.
• Visual elements, tangible images, and using the senses are important.
• The character may or may not want to look too deeply into what the set-up presents. He may come across incidents and people not through his own doing but by chance or surprise, and he usually has a wait-and-see attitude about how things will develop.
• As the story progresses, show the character’s psychological traits and let the character come into conclusions other than the ones he had in the beginning or let him make discoveries through his observations rather than taking any concrete action.
• Throughout the story, let the other characters, if they exist, drift in or out, with or without any significance, or let them stay until the end if you wish.
Not everything written that doesn't follow any rules can be considered a slice-of-life story. Even without plotting, a slice-of-life story has to have some meaning and has to inspire an emotion or empathy in the reader.
Keep in mind that there are readers for every type of story, and if the traditionalists judge slice-of-life stories unfavorably, take heart. Many great writers have written slice-of-life pieces.
Until we meet again, best wishes with all your stories. 
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Short Stories: April 01, 2009 Issue [#2962]
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