Going Forward

The more I read and the more I think about it, I think I want to imagine a world very different from my own. I finished reading Mike Resnick's starship trilogy. I was amused to read that 3000 years from now people will be using paper and pens. Oh, there were some advances with computers, but basically everything stayed the same. Things will not stay the same. So writing about a time in a future requires my imagination and requires choices. I can't imagine it all. I have to choose what I imagine. My biggest challenge so far is imagining my main character. I need to go forward and imagine other characters, too.

If, for example, Old Kelly can communicate telepathically, it makes sense that she may not be able to speak or hear. Then again, she is old. Perhaps that is why she cannot hear. I need to think about this some more. What are Kellens really like and why was she in prison for so long anyway and does it matter to this story?