What nonfiction trend excites (or worries) you most right now?

For a post about 'Can Writers, Authors, Readers, Bookstores and Librarians Save the Planet…or Have We Shelved the Future?' this might be of interest too! annafeatherstone.com/can-writers-...

For more on albert and the Sustainable Screens Australia workshop: annafeatherstone.com/what-screenw...

Sustainability doesn't necessarily need to be the plot in our books-it can live in the margins, and still make a difference.

We can help the future through how we write our characters, settings and plot lines – and even by choosing what genre to write in.

Tessa de Josselin who led the workshop quoted: "the future isn't this distant place; it's a verb." i.e. the future doesn’t exist yet, the future is what WE create. She urged us to portray sustainability not as a far-off goal but as an active, present-day endeavour.

Setting: we can weave sustainability principles into the setting without directly addressing climate by including descriptive elements such as solar panels, community gardens, bike paths or electric vehicles to normalise sustainable living.

Does one of your characters shop at op shops, mend things, use public transport, have a herb pot on the balcony, volunteer, wear grandma's old jumpers, guerrilla garden etc

Narrative: screenwriters may use a climate related theme as the basis of their production, or just to drive a story arc or a particular episode. Likewise, we can do this with our books too, so that a scene, character arc or a chapter may be driven by a climate related theme–or the entire book.

Is there a way in your writing you can show the benefits of sustainable living and make it aspirational?

Replacement: Swap out environmentally harmful activities with sustainable alternatives.

Discussion between characters: Create dialogues that address unsustainable behaviours.

Omission: If certain unsustainable actions aren't crucial to the plot, consider removing them. E.g. does the character need to drive 1km down the road to get a coffee…or could they walk and take a Keep Cup with them?