How much slice of life can you stand?

[CountVanBadger]

I've never been a fan of slice of life stories. To me, that's always just been an excuse for writers to stretch out their stories to ridiculous lengths without having to write an engaging plot. "No, no, it's fine that nothing important has happened in the last seventy chapters! It's a slice of life story!"

I've been listening to The World Sphere by Alwaysrollsaone recently, and I thought maybe I finally understood what everyone liked about the genre. Not much was happening, but just being in the characters' heads was interesting enough.

Now I'm on chapter 72 of the second book, and I think I'm done. Alwaysrollsaone is a good writer, but SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN ALREADY! The fifteen year old main character having infinite money, being unbeatable in (non-lethal, immediately healed) combat, and the most powerful wizard in the world, while rejecting a dozen beautiful girls who are head over heels in love with him, just isn't enough to keep my interest for a book and a half.

Oh, he wants to open a restaurant now and we get to be there as he buys a building, remodels it, and hires his staff? Fun stuff. Hey, isn't there a war going on nearby? Think we could get a little bit of that over here? No? Okay.

But that's just me. How much slice of life-ness can you handle all at once before it gets too boring?

 

[AliceMoonvale]

I can only handle a mild to moderate amount. If it's just slice of life for 90% of the story, kinda yikes.
That's why diary story indeed has slice of life, but stuff happens within every few chapters.

Not a fan of joining the 'speak so much but say so little' gang.

 

[Bimbanana]

I can only handle a mild to moderate amount. If it's just slice of life for 90% of the story, kinda yikes.
That's why diary story indeed has slice of life, but stuff happens within every few chapters.

Not a fan of joining the 'speak so much but say so little' gang.

A diary is technically 100% slice of life

 

[AliceMoonvale]

A diary is technically 100% slice of life

Not the way that I use it.
There's some slices, and there's a dwindling, lack of life.

 

[Bimbanana]

Not the way that I use it.
There's some slices, and there's a dwindling, lack of life.

Hah! So now you admit you are writing a diary, not a journal!

So when will you open a chapter with "Dear Diary" ?

 

[AliceMoonvale]

Hah! So now you admit you are writing a diary, not a journal!

So when will you open a chapter with "Dear Diary" ?

Never. My story doesn't open up with anything like that.

 

[JayMark]

Slice of Life is going to be the next Isekai most likely.
I enjoy it, but I preffer for some degree of conflict, even small conflict, to be driving a story.

 

[Kurayami]

I don't stand. I usually sit while reading it for the most part.

 

[Worthy39]

Eh, I like it, but I prefer it mixed with other genres. I think it's a great way to not only draw in fans of various genres, but also better showcase the characters personalities.

 

[FlutterOfCrows]

Slice of Life is going to be the next Isekai most likely.
I enjoy it, but I preffer for some degree of conflict, even small conflict, to be driving a story.

For me, its a sliding scale of how its executed above all.

To me, an average Slice of Life is usually 70% better than the average isekai, because genuine thought has to be given in character interactions, vs harem #759384 and toilet plunging was secretly OP all along.

I do prefer conflict, but Slice of Life is a wonderful tool for downtime that I think gets snarled at way too frequently, especially when it can be used to show chars at rest and at action.

 

[Bimbanana]

I have some favorite slice of life.

- Doraemon, for sure
- Saiki, totally love it.

But then again, both are comedies.
So its enjoyable like watching a sitcom.

But if its not lean on comedy and just about being cute and wholesome isekai life... yeah, kinda drop it along the way

 

[JayMark]

For me, its a sliding scale of how its executed above all.

To me, an average Slice of Life is usually 70% better than the average isekai, because genuine thought has to be given in character interactions, vs harem #759384 and toilet plunging was secretly OP all along.

I do prefer conflict, but Slice of Life is a wonderful tool for downtime that I think gets snarled at way too frequently, especially when it can be used to show chars at rest and at action.

Slice of life needs either relational tension or mini-goals. Wholesome is fine. It doesn't have to have big arguments, love triangles, or deal with major issues to stay grounded. But if it's just cooking, every day small talk, work, and cleaning vignettes I tend to lose interest. I like to slow down and do slice of life coded scenes every now and then.

 

[Dawnathon]

It depends. If it's a slice of life first and foremost, as said on the tin, I don't have any problems. I mean, you don't go to a chocolatier and complain you don't like chocolate. They tend to be next to zero stakes, just focused on small gags and seeing cute and/or silly characters do cute and/or silly things. Just look at Lucky Star and Watamote for one of each.

The slice-of-life scenes and chapters inside of larger works seems more like what you're referring to, and they're absolutely vital imo, in small amounts. Having some segments of characters outside of drama, combat, and aurafarming is important for adding texture to the characters. They just need to be integrated well alongside the main plot as well as not being too frequent. Without seeing the characters in their downtime, they're closer to being figures than they are people. Good for some characters, less so for the whole cast. The problems usually start not from their inclusion, but from the exclusion of any major plotlines actually being addressed let alone resolved. In serial fiction, it can be a sign the writer is really not feeling it, but they don't want to go on hiatus, so you get a lot of fluff and filler.

 

[MFontana]

I've never been a fan of slice of life stories. To me, that's always just been an excuse for writers to stretch out their stories to ridiculous lengths without having to write an engaging plot. "No, no, it's fine that nothing important has happened in the last seventy chapters! It's a slice of life story!"

I've been listening to The World Sphere by Alwaysrollsaone recently, and I thought maybe I finally understood what everyone liked about the genre. Not much was happening, but just being in the characters' heads was interesting enough.

Now I'm on chapter 72 of the second book, and I think I'm done. Alwaysrollsaone is a good writer, but SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAPPEN ALREADY! The fifteen year old main character having infinite money, being unbeatable in (non-lethal, immediately healed) combat, and the most powerful wizard in the world, while rejecting a dozen beautiful girls who are head over heels in love with him, just isn't enough to keep my interest for a book and a half.

Oh, he wants to open a restaurant now and we get to be there as he buys a building, remodels it, and hires his staff? Fun stuff. Hey, isn't there a war going on nearby? Think we could get a little bit of that over here? No? Okay.

But that's just me. How much slice of life-ness can you handle all at once before it gets too boring?

For me; what the story's focus and main genre are influence how much I'll tolerate as a reader, viewer, or author myself. Slice of Life is fine as a sub-genre, but horribly boring to read (and write) as a primary genre. For example; Spice & Wolf, Great Teacher Onizuka, and even Tenchi Muyo all have slice of life elements; but there is also always something else going on as the main narrative focus, genre, or even just coherent goals and narrative direction.

Quiet, cozy, moments between characters are fine when they serve a narrative purpose, but otherwise I find them remarkably dull; and I genuinely can't see how they could be used as the majority of any narrative while still being "interesting."

But that's just my opinion. Take it as you will.