How big is your universe?

Deciding on the world of our story is one of the first decisions we have to make.  How big is your universe going to be ?

Although SF gives us the universe to play in, we need to reduce it to a scale that humans can relate to.  This might mean a series of scenes on different Earth-like rocky planets.  Or if we're in a hostile environment like the atmosphere of a gas giant, we're going to need a place of safety with familiar tech around us.

If we choose to travel across the universe, most of us choose to send our characters in some kind of physical spaceship.  We create a home away from home for them out in the icy, inky depths of interstellar space.  One of my favourite series is C J Cherryh's Chanur series, where most of the action is set in and around the interstellar trading ship The Pride of Chanur.  One of my favourite moments is where a starship of a rival Hani family comes into the system with its drive destroyed and can't stop.  Cherryh describes how crews of other ships, even when they're of different species, immediately go to rescue the crew.  Cherryh's description of how devastating the loss of the ship is to the crew has stuck with me for years.  "Home and life to the Faha crew".  Such a short phrase, but so full of meaning.

Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's war series takes us jumping all over the universe, but we see each scene through the eyes of the viewpoint character.  Her canvas is the universe, but made manageable through the human viewpoints.  People are scattered on many planets, but they still need to eat, trade, sleep.  The broad canvas is anchored through the familiar actions of human everyday living.

Near or far, settings can be as big as we like - or as small.  How big your universe is is shaped by your story, and by what the characters do in it.