All fiction is fantasy, when you come right down to it. Every story has a little spark of the unreal to it, and fantasy as a genre is so sprawling that it can accommodate every other genre at once. Romance, crime, sweeping historical epic – fantasy can be all these and more.

Here are five tips that will hopefully make your own world-smithing a little easier:

Fantasy is Iterative

Just as an artist might complete then refine a rough sketch, remember that you have multiple drafts to work with. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. I give each draft a job – plot, character, voice – so I can focus on one job at a time and then tie them together later.

Fantasy is Character-Driven

The wildest plot or world will not resonate with readers if we aren’t interested in the character experiencing it. They don’t have to be likeable, but they do have to be relatable. Give them understandable goals. Understandable flaws. Most importantly, give them agency – show them trying. There’s nothing more frustrating than someone standing still.

Fantasy is Political

I don’t mean you should make every character a grand vizier and every set piece a senate vote, but characters are a product of the society in which they are born. Their views, hopes and values will be informed by the power structures that surround them, even if they’re in the process of tearing them down.

Fantasy is Fluid

Fantasy contains every genre at once, and that means every genre has something to teach us. Injecting your fantasy with the pacing of crime fiction, the lush language of poetry or the raw imagery of horror will make your work stand out.

Fantasy is About You

It is a crowded genre, and the one thing you can do to make your work unique is to make it more you. Draw on your heritage, your career, your specific voice, anything at all that can’t be found in the classic library of tropes and language choices that readers will already know back to front. The one story that you can be sure hasn’t been told yet is yours, and while the instinct might always be to follow the canon, it’s better to add to it by being yourself.