11. Make the past stick around—not just as tourist sights, but as unexamined parts of daily life.
And sometimes it seems to have stuck around, but is actually resurrected. In multi-species Boston, Alex decided aliens would want to connect themselves via Adoption, where they bought the right to claim fabled old Bostonians like Otis as ancestors. Hunt through Boston's past for iconic figures, whether whalers, Puritans, or corrupt ward politicians, and make them your characters' ancestors. Reuse the Filene's shell for your own creations!
12. Keep some past latent but completely forgotten—people live in the present.
No one lives in the future, they live right now, and build the future on the past's rubble. The gigantic encapsulated Cube that Boston becomes late in the book sucks up every building that now stands, and buries them deep in the underbasement used only by criminals and maintenance staff. No one misses those uncomfortable things, with their primitive ventilators and uncomfortable furniture. Everything not in the Cube vanished under the water—but we could still write stories in the ruins.
13. Make it fun—otherwise what's the point of going there?
Creation is play; if it's not play, it won't be creative. We had a great time—you can barely keep us from doing it again. That's what science fiction writing should be really all about, not just envisioning the future, but having enormous fun doing so.
This article was written by several Future Boston authors: Jon Burrowes, Alexander Jablokov, Steven Popkes, David Alexander Smith, and Sarah Smith
