Worldbuilding vs Lore

I want to start off this post by saying this is not a contest, dis track, or a swipe at a certain type of writing. These are tools, and it would be absurd to argue a hammer is better than a pair of scissors. They each have their use, and neither of them are good at what the other does.

With that out of the way, I want to talk about worldbuilding, and by extension, lore. We often hear about how we need to include worldbuilding, and some writers run in fear from the very mention of the term. “But I’m not writing fantasy!” we might say. Even if the entire story takes place in a white room with no windows or doors, there’s still worldbuilding. The way this room is described, what is left out from the POV, what kind of tone is set by the narrator, and all the implications about the world beyond this room are all there in every paragraph. This is what I mean by worldbuilding. Worldbuilding is the work you do to establish the story in a place that extends beyond it, but which also serves the story’s purposes, goals, themes, or style. Not just the kingdom-spanning histories or the detailed descriptions of how magic works—the little details matter too. Worldbuilding consists of everything you’d actually put on stage for a show, and have characters interact with, or walk past, or use to light a scene.

Maybe you like worldbuilding. Maybe you’re the type who plans out the entire world before you even start writing the story, before you even know what the story’s going to be. Building the stage upon which your story will pan out, and setting it up for further work. Be wary of creating too much. How much is too much? Unless you're worldbuilding just for fun, you've got a story to write too. And complete it.

So what’s Lore?

Fandoms are great places to go to pick up lore. Entire coffee-table books of Star Trek ship facts and schematics. Dates and figures, family tree diagrams for all the major characters, wiki page after wiki page hotly contested and over-written as new information comes to light or is guessed at. Lore, unlike worldbuilding, are the elements of this world you’re making that have nothing to do with the story that’s developing. If a reader would have the same experience knowing or not knowing these things as they read, then that’s lore. Lore is additional bonus content; it’s knowledge about the world around that doesn’t impact the story. It’s what’s left of your pre-constructed world that you didn’t use, the set pieces that are still waiting in the wings, the stuff in storage, backstage. Lore is the extra.

Whether we like worldbuilding or not, it’s an essential part of creating stories. Lore is not. Lore is great for creating worlds, and for making bonus stuff for fans (like pretty coffee table books with space ship facts). We should understand the difference and know which to include in a book and which to cut, file away, leave out, and collect for later use by other means. The lore can slow down the pacing, get in the way of narrative tension, or—in the worst case—demystify the magic and awe.

Be intentional with your worldbuilding.