Are You Writing Serious Fantasy?

[littlemanpoet]

Hey people,

Niphredil brought up an interesting topic for serious fantasy writers on a different thread having to do with "what if the Ring had never been found"; interesting thread in its own right, but onto my quote:

Hidden, the ring kept up a fragile balance that nobody was satisfied with... in my point of view, balance is something that starts adventures rather than ends them... for the balance always tips... suddenly...

So my question is: what plot device gets your story going? A tip in the balance of power, as Niphredil thinks, or is it something else? Are there better and worse plot devices? overused and hackneyed ones?

My answer to the question from my own story is: all of my stories get going by breaking a series of taboos, leading to discovery of something totally beyond one's normal experience. Now that I read what I wrote I'm stunned by how Jungian it is. Anybody read his autobiography? Breaking of taboos is all through it. Enough about that aside. Any takers on the main question?