In a new blog post, Janice Hardy discusses the difference between setting and worldbuilding. “Setting is the location in which a scene (or book) takes place. It contains all the information needed to understand what’s going on in that scene,” Hardy explains. “World building is where the story exists. It contains all the information needed to understand that world and why what happens there matters to the characters in that world.”
Your setting might be a kitchen, but whether that kitchen is in a fire station or a space station will influence what happens there and how. “The world of the novel contains all the settings of the novel,” Hardy says. “And those settings are affected by how the world works.”
Setting is also narrow. When your characters interact in your kitchen, you need share only the specific information your readers need to know to get into and out of the scene. “The details chosen for this scene are all things that relate to the pursuit of the scene’s goal and what happens during that pursuit,” Hardy writes. “How the character feels about details in the setting helps show who the character is and how they feel about the world they live in.”
In contrast, worldbuilding requires you to think bigger, about social rules, culture, religion, politics, and threats. “World building details are elements that determine how a character is going to interact with the setting—what they’ll do/say/think in that kitchen,” Hardy explains. “They shape the characters’ views on where they live and how they’ll act within that world. They determine the types of problems found in that world.”
“Setting is where a scene takes place, but world building is why it had to take place there,” Hardy adds. Going back to your kitchen, the details you share will depend on the world you’ve created. Is food scarce? Is it fresh? Are there multiple options? Does it taste good? Does the cook care what you think? Is the preparation sanitized or is someone beheading a chicken on the counter? Who will eat what’s prepared there? “What you choose to describe and what details become important change drastically,” Hardy says. “The world affects the characters and their choices, and that affects how they interact with that kitchen.”
