Make your characters want something right away, wrote Vonnegut, even if it’s only a glass of water.

And as soon as we pick my four-year-old up from pre-school and strap her into her car seat, she tells us that she wants some water.

But a narrative, at its most basic level, is driven by the relationship between what a character wants and the obstacles in their way, and it just so happens that my daughter’s water bottle is empty.

Guest post by Nadia Colburn, PhD

Nadia is teaching "Poetry as a Contemplative Practice" on May 18th, 10:30-1:30. Click here for more info. Nadia holds a BA from Harvard and a PhD in English from Columbia University

In the May 2018 edition of "Best of Boston," we bring you our top Boston lit events this month, curated from the Boston Literary District's event calendar, an essential source of literary happenings.

All too often authors use a push strategy in their social media efforts, sharing out messages to their audience without engaging with their audience at all. To do so is to ignore one of the most effective marketing tools in the marketing arsenal, the power of 1:1 conversations.

This month, the DeadDarlings team examined what it takes to share your work with the wider world. Here is how to silence your inner critic and put your best pitching foot forward

Overcome Your Fear (or fake courage)
Milo Todd comes clean and shares that No, Your Imposter Syndrome Won't Magically Go Away, but don't let that stop you.