kithalstead

[kithalstead]

I finished the first draft of my short story today! It's the first short story I've finished since college, and even though I have to slash and burn it in editing, and get rid of about 2,000 words, I'm proud of myself for finishing it!

Me 🤝 Johnny Cash

[kithalstead]

Me 🤝 Johnny Cash

[kithalstead]

I started editing Paint and the Stars with a new goal - I'm adding a dual POV so I'm going back in and adding a lot more scenes, and it's about to double on length

But this means that we get to see that the love is requited, they're just dumbasses

Also someone admiring and loving Campbell's fat body is what I needed as a teenager

[kithalstead]

Kit's Writing Advice

Write more often.

Even if it sucks, even if you hate it, even if you want to tear your hair out, even if you think it's the worst thing you've ever written, write it. You don't have to share it, but keep going. You can always delete it later, but get it out.

Read more often.

Read different genres, and styles of writing. Go to your library and let your librarian point you to some classics. Ask a friend to tell you about their favorite book. Find new fanfics that spark your interest even if you're not familiar with the fandom or you don't sail the ship as the captain. Maybe pick up a nonfiction book at the store that caught your eye. Just keep reading, and let the words settle in.

You can think of writing like a muscle, and working out and stretching will make you stronger, but if you're not reading, you're not nourishing your muscles to keep growing. So read as often as you can and write even more than that. Study the way writers use language, how their phrases twist together, how they convey ideas with images and ideas, the way they talk about people, the way they talk about life. Study the flow of the story, and why it grips you the way it does.

If there's something you want to write, but you're not sure how, read it first, and study it, pick it apart, figure out the layers of reader and writer and character and setting all lay together to make this canvas and how that works together.

Then try it. Try to write it. Maybe it works. Maybe it doesn't. Keep reading. Keep writing. It's a muscle, you don't give up because you can't lift the heaviest weight, you start small and work your way up to your goal. So, start small, start with a sentence. And make sure you take breaks to read, because you need your sustenance just as much as you need to train.

Read.

Write.

And it's okay to take a break. It's always okay to step back and return to it when you feel ready to. It's okay. We'll be here waiting for you, that's the best thing about writing, you can always come back and pick right back up where you left off.

<3 -kh

[kithalstead]

Dialogue Prompts + Part Nine

[Kit's Dialogue Prompts Master List]

I think a week alone in the forest might fix me. 

It’s worth a shot, what else could go wrong? 

This lie is so big it involves paperwork and a notary. 

You do not need to buy [X] to get someone to like you. 

I’ll be on the first train out of here.  

What year are you from? 

What’s worse than pulling teeth, because whatever that is, this is that. 

You could start off by explaining to me what exactly you think you’re doing with my kid in the middle of the night when they have school in the morning. 

I’m really curious how you thought you could possibly pull this off. 

You don’t go to war if you’re looking for a good man, and I think that was your first mistake. 

You’re the kind of person even a buttercup wouldn’t shine on.  

If you don’t hear from me in an hour, assume that I’ve died and hold a beautiful memorial in my honor; I want there to be music, and flowers, and you had better cry, goddamn it. 

I’d have made a lovely widow(er). 

You’re not going to like the way this turns out for you.  

Did you just call me honey? Because, honey, I have a name, it’s a really good name, I found hard for it, and you will use it when addressing me, or speaking about me at all. 

And I think I’d be much happier getting a pedicure by the prettiest girl at the salon with a mai tai in one hand and my other on your thigh, but we can’t all get what we want, sweetheart.  

As one might expect, we have failed spectacularly. 

At least you had fun. 

This may not be the hill I’m going to die on, but someone is if you don’t learn to shut your mouth.  

I could show you.  

If you like what I do, and want to support me a little, you can [buy me a coffee]!

[kithalstead]

Day Mistress

Years ago, the world ended, and a small group of humans and supernatural creatures formed a society inside away from the toxic air and arid earth. Ellery Herron is a human trying to make ends meet and in order to pay her rent, she turns to direct donating to vampires. There, she meets Leader Isaac Hand, and comes to find that life is certainly easier when you're not alone.

Fandom:

Original Work

Relationship:

Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)

Additional Tags:

Vampires

Post-Apocalypse

Human/Vampire Relationship

Bisexual Male Character

Bisexual Female Character

[read it now on ao3]

Buy Me a Coffee

[kithalstead]

Hi there, I'm so sorry to bug you. I read your bucktommy fics ob ao3 and really loved the first chapter of somebody out there who will. Will you be updating this one soon? Thank you!

Hi friend, it's no bother at all!! I absolutely will be updating soon! I'm on the last scene, but that will take a little bit, but it's definitely coming!! Keep an eye out!!

[kithalstead]

Would you read this...

Medusa is a sculptor who is responsible for a statue of the dean of her culture who was accused of several sexual assaults on students, displayed in a college-hosted gallery opening of the dean holding a decapitated snake.

Eurydice is a college student who was sexually assaulted by the dean of the college when she was a freshman after a fight with her boyfriend, and finally after years of holding it back, she comes forward about it, and finds her reputation ruined by the college who call her a snake and a whore.

Medusa and Eurydice find each other, and fall in love in their shared trauma and survival.

@gregorygerwitz

[kithalstead]

🐍

[kithalstead]

Day Mistress

Years ago, the world ended, and a small group of humans and supernatural creatures formed a society inside away from the toxic air and arid earth. Ellery Herron is a human trying to make ends meet and in order to pay her rent, she turns to direct donating to vampires. There, she meets Leader Isaac Hand, and comes to find that life is certainly easier when you're not alone.

Fandom:

Original Work

Relationship:

Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s)

Additional Tags:

Vampires

Post-Apocalypse

Human/Vampire Relationship

Bisexual Male Character

Bisexual Female Character

[read it now on ao3]

Buy Me a Coffee

[kithalstead]

[read it now on ao3]

[kithalstead]

Hot Vampire 🦇

[kithalstead]

4/5/24 - Disconnected Scene

She set her chin in her hand and smiled at him as he spoke, endlessly, in circles almost, hoping that if her expression was placidly pleasant enough, he might not notice she'd stopped paying attention to his words. He was flirting, she knew that, or at least what he meant to be flirting, she was sure. She just needed him to waste the next fifteen minutes so she could leave and go home. She wondered what they were having for dinner that night, if her partner would be making soup for the cold front that had come in through the valley. She shifted and glanced up at the boy in front of her, and he was just a boy. There was a bit of white peace fuzz over his lip where his first bit of mustache was starting to come in. She was at least five years older than him, and she was sure she could crush him with her thighs. He leaned against the front of the circulation desk, and that smile turned a little hungry.   Just in time, her coworker, a large man with big hands and a louder voice, stepped out of the back to step next to her, and grabbed the microphone to speak to any remaining patrons.  "Attention, patrons, the time is now 5:50. The library will be closing in ten minutes. Please bring any items to the circulation desk to check out. Again, the time is now 5:50 and the library will be closing in ten minutes."  The boy's eyes widened, and he stepped back. He stuttered out half an apology, and then he was gone.   "Why did you let him flirt so hard with you if you clearly weren't interested?" Her coworker asked as she stood up and started to pack up her belongings.   "I wasn't going to tell him no," she replied easily, wrapping her scarf around her neck. "Besides, it's not my fault he didn't look at me and understand."  She gestured to the pride flag pinned to her blazer's lapel right over her heart where it belonged.   "Anyway, mind if I pop out? I can't miss my bus again."  "Go ahead. I'll close up here. You go home to that pretty partner of yours. Give them a kiss for me."  "I'll deliver your kiss with pride," she said, and nudged him gently. "Be safe."  "You, too." 

[kithalstead]

WIP Weekend

Starting right now, I'm asking y'all to help me work on my Original Fiction WIPs specifically.

“pats”- friends to lovers, bisexual fat main, lesbian love interest, new adult

“lightning boy” - chosen one twist, queer siblings, bi/aro main character

“magic boys” - brothers, magical realism, queer main character, queer love story, mystery

“superhero” - enemies to lovers, superheros and villains, queer love story

“reignite” - magical realism, queer love story, back from the dead & necromancer

“bloom” - fake dating, queer love story, college setting

“hot vampire” - bi4bi fat main characters, supernatural romance

send me a 🎁 and a WIP Code Name and I’ll write five sentences of what I’m working on and share one

[kithalstead]

Formatting Texts in Fiction

I'm editing the formatting of my WIP now, and I have an interesting question. You have a fiction novel in front of you, what's the easiest way to read text message coversations?

Option A:

My phone chimes with an incoming message that reads "Hey is this Kit?" "Yeah who is this" I message back

Option B:

Unknown : Hey is this Kit Me: yeah who is this

Option C:

Unknown Number Hey is this Kit Me yeah who is this

Or is there some other way to format this that I'm not thinking of?

[kithalstead]

I've been editing and revising pats and it's so good to be back with my girls, so if anyone wants to know more about them, I welcome any and all discussion!

[kithalstead]

NaNoWriMo 2023: "Same Old Country Love Song"

you've heard this song a thousand times, but this time it's about two guys

Add me on NaNoWriMo as a writing buddy!

A short story collection of love stories based on popular country love songs, with a twist that they feature queer couples instead :)