The difference between hard worldbuilding and soft worldbuilding
The difference between an okay and a great fantasy or science-fiction novel is worldbuilding. Readers will always have their own likes and preferences towards genres and tropes, but bad worldbuilding is just bad writing, and like Kimberly “Sweet Brown” Wilkens said: ain’t nobody got time for that. Find out more about hard worldbuilding vs soft worldbuilding and which one is best for you.
What is worldbuilding?
Let’s start with the basics. Worldbuilding is setting the stage for your characters. Some, myself included, take his literal and build a new world from the ground up, just like Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings or Alagaësia in Eragon. You don’t need to create an entirely new world, though. Worldbuilding is just as important in grounded fiction or low fantasy, such as American Gods (Neil Gaiman) or Mortal Instruments (Cassandra Clare). Good worldbuilding pulls the reader into your story and it doesn’t matter if it’s an entirely new world or something we already recognize with new, fantastical elements.
Worldbuilding isn’t limited to the physical world either; it’s also magic, social structure, religion, morality, and everyday habits. It can be all the above, or just a few elements. How a writer introduces their world to the reader has a tremendous effect on how the reader will experience the story. Generally speaking, fantasy and science-fiction is divided into hard worldbuilding or soft worldbuilding. Of course, the world (imaginary or not) isn’t just black and white. There are a lot of shades of grey in between, so don’t get stuck in this binary thinking.
Worldbuilding is not simple explaining the world, so readers understand the world. Yes, there could be elements that need to be explained so that the reader can understand certain interactions or events. But that is not the main goal of worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is needed for immersion. A story needs to grab and hold the attention of a reader, and it does so by setting a certain atmosphere, tone, and mood using worldbuilding.
What is hard worldbuilding?
Hard worldbuilding follows the same definition as a hard magic system. In hard worldbuilding, the writer explains everything following clear, logical rules. Everything makes sense and everything can be explained. If you feel the need to explain how your characters go to the bathroom or construct an entirely new language, then it’s pretty safe to say you’re into hardcore worldbuilding.
The advantage of hard worldbuilding is that everything makes sense. There is less room for plotholes or mistakes because everything must be explained. The disadvantage of this kind of worldbuilding is that there is no room left for imagination. Sometimes writers take it too far; not every reader is interested in the unique bathroom situation you’ve created for your characters. Don’t smother your reader’s wonder and curiosity with an explanation.
What is soft worldbuilding?
Soft worldbuilding is like soft magic systems; some things are left to wonder about. The reader is presented with mystery and *magic* and is allowed to fill in the blanks for themselves. The immersion in the story comes from the reader’s imaginative involvement and a sense of otherworldliness.
Soft worldbuilding is no excuse for sloppy plotting, deus ex machina revelations, or flat characters. The writer does not have to justify every little thing, but the story must still make sense. Another approach to soft worldbuilding is leaving the details out. You, as the author, know how everything is connected, but you just don’t tell your readers and let them figure it out for themselves. This is something Neil Gaiman likes to do with the Hemingway’s Iceberg method. Work out pretty much everything about your world, but only reveal a small portion of that. Everything makes sense without you having to explain why everything makes sense.
Hard worldbuilding vs soft worldbuilding: which is right for you?
Sorry, clickbait. I can’t give you an answer to the above question. Choosing your method of worldbuilding depends on the type of writer you are and the type of story you wish to create. That’s not to say I can’t help you at all. Here are a few points to consider when making the decision.
Time
The most obvious difference between hard and soft worldbuilding is time. Creating myth, religion, continents, language, politics, and social structures takes time. Inserting all that information in your story without info dumping takes skill. There’s a reason why there is no “the next Tolkien” or “the next Game of Thrones”. Creating such detailed worlds is usually somebody's life’s work that stems from immense passion and perseverance, and not something authors do just to jump on the bandwagon of a particular popular trope.
Creative freedom – otherwise known as painting yourself in a corner.
Hard worldbuilding is based on internal consistency and logic. While this can help some writers in constructing logical and interesting plotlines, there is always the risk of painting yourself in a corner that you can’t get out using the logic of your world. I’m not advertising for deus ex machina solutions here, but soft worldbuilding does give you more creative freedom in finding new ways to help your hero out.
World vs story
Are you creating a story for your world or are you creating a world for your story? Hard worldbuilding takes place in a world where stories happen. Immersion happens through detailed descriptions. Soft worldbuilding tells a story that happens to take place in a world. Immersion happens through tone and feelings.
Example: Lord of the Rings
Whether you like those hungry hobbits or not, Tolkien’s stories are great for explaining worldbuilding and magic systems. Tolkien’s universe has history, geography, mythical creators, languages, and so much more. There are hundreds of Wiki pages dedicated to his creation. Whenever a new film or TV adaptation comes out, the entire Tolkien community holds its breath. Will they follow the lore? Will they get every little detail right? (Spoiler alert: they never do.)
Tolkien’s universe is super hardcore worldbuilding. He thought of everything there was to think about, and he constructed it wonderfully in his world. Yet, it is that same Tolkien who said this in an essay called On Fairy-Stories: “One thing must not be made fun of, the magic itself. That must in that story be taken seriously, neither laughed at nor explained away.”
While Tolkien’s universe is an excellent example of hard worldbuilding, his magic is on the other end of the spectrum. Nobody has any idea how Gandalf’s magic works. What kind of magic powers the rings or Bilbo’s blue sword? There are no answers to this question, and there never will be. It’s a beautiful example of how hard worldbuilding can still be wondrous and inspire imagination.