Slice of Life

Have you ever read A Doll’s House by Henrietta Ibsen?

This play is probably one of my favorites. Not because it’s witty or action-packed (it isn’t) but because it is literally just a little slice of life.

Nora is your average housewife and mother, who through some unfortunate events, realizes her marriage is a sham and that her husband doesn’t see her as his equal but as his doll. This three-act play is not reliant on any huge outstanding source of conflict like in most stories, but it is kept within Nora and Torvald’s relationship. It is the story of an awakening, which by random happenstance, seems to be my favorite theme. Nora is awakened to how her husband treats her and how she feels she should be treated.

I feel like this little slice of life is just as compelling as King Kong or Rampage or even Harry Potter. Life is made up of moments and while not all of them can be great, most are. Think Into the Woods when the Baker’s Wife is deciding whether to run off with the prince after their moment, or go back to her husband with that memory.

I love writing slice of life stories. They keep me grounded and remind me to keep my characters real. Almost as if you could meet them on the street. Fiction, to me, is more compelling if it’s rooted in realism. Surrealism is cool too, if you know me, you know that I love The Walking Dead, but that’s another post.