Slice of Life Story Challenge

SOL Tuesday

Stacey Shubitz

Join us every Tuesday for our weekly Slice of Life Story Challenge!

Write a slice of life story.
Share your link in the comments section of this post.
Give comments to at least three other participants’ stories.

Have you signed up for the 15th Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge yet? The sign-up form went live last week. Be sure to sign up if you’re reading to commit to 31 days of writing.

Leads have always been tricky for me. I’ve been thinking about the ways I can strengthen my writing — from the start — lately. I know there’s no single way to open a piece of writing so I’m constantly studying leads I admire.

Whenever I begin a book by an author who is new to me, I approach it with a bit of apprehension. I wonder if I’ll like the writing style. If the story doesn’t draw me in quickly (Of if doesn’t use quotation marks to mark dialogue, which I’ve encountered three times in the past few months!), then I abandon the book and move on.

A couple of weeks ago, I read Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. The lead drew me in immediately. From the moment I read it, I knew I was going to see the book through until the end. Here’s a peek at it:

I aspire to write leads that draw others in as well as Elle Casimano did in Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. I’ll try today — and every day during the month of March — to invite readers into my world in a way that makes them want to keep reading. As writers, that’s all we can do, right? We keep trying to get stronger with our craft.

Published by Stacey Shubitz

I am a literacy consultant who focuses on writing workshop. I've been working with K-6 teachers and students since 2009. Prior to that, I was a fourth and fifth-grade teacher in New York City and Rhode Island. I'm the author of Craft Moves (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016) and the co-author of Jump Into Writing (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and Day By Day (Stenhouse, 2010). I live in Central Pennsylvania with my husband and children. In my free time, I enjoy swimming, doing Pilates, cooking, baking, making ice cream, and reading novels.

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