Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/45447
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/45447
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I have just finished a short story, set in what is known as [20 Minutes into the Future](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture) - a time frame that's only a little into the future from our own. There is a change from modern times, but it is sociological rather than technological.

I opened with the element that's different, set it and the process that led to it within the first page, and thought that it would be enough. More specifically, I took a conflict that's ongoing right now, and explored what happens after one side "wins". However, while the existence of the conflict is known, its current status, as it turned out - less so.

First question I get from a beta reader: "When is this happening? I looked through Wikipedia, it doesn't seem to fit anything in the past decades."

**How can I establish the setting as "tomorrow"?** I suppose I can mention a year, but that would make the work dated the moment the year passes. I can mention some event that had clearly not happened, like the monarchy in Spain being voted out, but that feels forced, too big to just be a timestamp. What other options do I have?

To make things more difficult, the story is narrated in third-person limited, following very closely a protagonist who is 16 at the time of the story, with the "change" happening when he was 5. So **I need to establish that his "reference point in the past" is in our future**.

Original score: 6