In an article for Writer’s Digest, Stacy Nathaniel Jackson offers tips for writing near futures in fiction. Her tips include:
- Generate Ideas from Financial Media. Financial investors are always looking towards the future and the Next Big Thing. Financial publications are “excellent sources for new products, general trends, micro and macro forecasts, monetary policy, and perspectives on global events,” Jackson notes.
- Word-Building for the Near Future. “More than likely the future won’t sound the same as today, be it language or street sounds,” Jackson writes. The near future should be recognizable, but a bit off kilter—familiarly strange.” Jackson recommends searching etymology dictionaries and have fun creating new words. Your new language doesn’t need to make sense in the real world, but should sound natural in your story world.
- Cultural Ethos and Legality. How will laws and mores change in your near future? What cultural touchstones like diet, fashion, and entertainment will change?
