Realism is the most important part in a story, next to irony.  The unpredictable is the most entertaining, life is the same.  If we all knew what was coming, we would all be bored out of our skulls.

Concern yourself... with what is real and what is not.  Now consider that with the impractical and practical.  Though, realism has nothing to do with the impractical, to me... it does.  You see, you can make a person say or do anything in your story.  You are a God.  However, weilding words around is useless if you don't know what you're doing.

"Samarai Champoo", "Full-Metal Alchemist", "Inuyasha" have lots of realism in them.

"Inuyasha" is the background and has romance/drama.  It relates to real life despite the fact that it has material demons in the story.

"Full-Metal Alchemist", they have heavy burdens which others may even carry, maybe.  But, the fact that they don't give up facing the impossible is enticing to see.

"Samarai Champoo" is the attitude.  They match their characters with great interaction and compromises propriety.

Avoid dull speech, pointless chats that don't pertain to the story, make characters have a past/conflict/stray habits/peeves/or maybe more.  Just make a story that is original.  That is making an idea that is different from other stories.

propriety means a polite society, like you would never say something in public.

Next week is Irony.  Talk to me if you don't understand, thats what I'm here for.