Slice of life

if the writer knows everything which has taken place in his character ' s life before and everything that will take place after the action of the scene actually described and if the writer is skillful enough (there 's the big if), his story will come off, even if it is only the account of a slice of life with no denouement- that is, no beginning and no end, only the middle. This may be so, but it takes an unusually perceptive and persuasive writer to bring off anything so subtle. And, let's face it, such a story makes a demand on the reader that the average person is not equal to. Most readers need to have a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end for them to be able to follow it and understand it and, therefore, enjoy it.