That's my first natter, hanging on the wall

Thanks, coffeeandink, for the invite!

I don't currently have Net access at home, and my public access isn't available on weekends; so my posting here will be light for a while.

Writing about the present?

Is it possible to write about the present?

Suppose you write a novel set in the present or the very near future. When you begin, you'll actually be writing about the very near past. (If you're observant, that is. If you're not observant, you may not notice that 1970s rock has gone out of style; the political party which seemed to have a permanent majority a few years ago has lost power; etc.) Many changes will be too small to notice; but do check the news at least daily to make sure major buildings you mention are still standing.

By the time your novel is finished and published, the world will have changed again and again. Remember novels about the Soviet invasion of America? Some of them reached bookstores after the fall of the Soviet Union.

There was probably at least one Sensitive Novel in progress about two Canadian men in love who emigrate to a country where they can get married, when Canadian judges ruined the whole plot.

Suppose your novel is set well in the future, but is about Today's Important Issues.

You don't know what those are. You know what issues are considered important, yes. But I can predict that future historians will say we ignored the most important problems.

Historians how far in the future? Five years, maybe.