You've stepped into a time machine and zapped yourself into the next decade.  You still want to be a writer.  What kind of marketplace do you find?

Which genres are hot? Which genres are dying?  What new genres or subgenres have emerged?

Which current authors are still popular? Which currently popular ones aren't?

How does one go about getting published?  Do agents still play a prominent role?  How do publishers find/choose new authors to publish?  How does the publishing industry deal with the ever larger slushpile?

What format is the mainstream of the publishing world using?  Traditional books?  E-books?  Books on CD-ROm/DVD/Blue Ray?  Books of e-paper?

What role if any are POD and electronic publishing playing?

What new forms of getting information or entertainment are competing with books?  More elaborate video games?  Online worlds?  Others?

Where are people buying their books?  Physical stores?  On-line stores? Somewhere else?

Which existing publishers are still around?  Which ones aren't?  What kinds of new publishers have come into existence?

Where is the publishing industry centered geographically?  New York?  LA?  Somewhere else?  No dominant center?

How has the concept of what is good writing changed?  Is there a swing back toward elaborate description?  Does writing become more script-like?  What else has changed?  A resurgence of adverbs and saidisms?  More 'creative grammar' as the gen X and later generations become a bigger part of the marketplace?

What role does writing and entertainment from emerging countries like India and China play?

How do people find books/articles  that they  like in the huge sea of things they don't like?

How do writers find their audience?  How do they publicize themselves?

What is a writer's life like?  What tools are available to them?  How do they spend their time?

That's just a few questions to get you started.  I'm sure there are a lot more.