: Re: When writing Sci-Fi whats a good way to determine the year? I'm having trouble deciding what year I want my Novella to take place. How do other Sci-Fi writers make up what year it is in

@Bryan361

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Assuming that your characters relationship with the past is similar to your own, look back through historically significant events until you find one that feels old enough but not too old. Also consider which aspects of our society make up the history you are looking at, because different types of memories age at different rates.

For example, the days before computers and cell phones probably seem like ancient history to anyone under 30. While films of Jimmy Hendrix performing at Woodstock seem relevant and recent. The amount of change is more important that the amount of time when laying out your characters understanding of the past.

Finally, setting the date for a Sci-Fi novel should justify the differences between your mythical and our real worlds. If your characters have neural implants instead of cellphones, then it is probably more than 10 years from now; but if instead, they still have cellphones whose batteries die every night, it is probably less than 10 years.

The date of your story is just a number that appears at most, every couple of dozen pages. Focus on your story! Don't worry about such details until later. You can change it once your story tells you in what age it needs to live.

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