Genre Confusion

It is firmly seated between those two things, being much more focused on the relationships between people (both romantic and otherwise) and the struggles of individuals (usually common people who accomplish extraordinary things).

In a nutshell:

Story - Sequence of character development and relationships.
Plot - Sequence of events which build into a climax.

In most good books, Story is more important than Plot, sometimes to the point of overwhelming it. In most good Fantasy books, plots can become more important, so that the two can be about on par.

In a Romance novel, a romantic story completely subsumes the plot, so that events are essentially developed and timed around their impact on the key relationships of the characters involved. Right when the two realize they love each other.... boom, something interrupts them. Right when they're arguing and about to break up, thwack, they're captured and trapped in a room together.

Just because your story features romance does not make you a romantic writer, nor does it mean you're not writing fantasy. It just means that you're featuring certain aspects of life. Although, if you talked to a publisher, they'd probably tell you to stop what you're doing and write romantic fantasy because it sells better. It's up to you whether that would be "finding focus" or "selling out."

My work hasn't been terribly well-received here, and though part of the problem is my inexperience and need to clean up my work, I'm feeling like my concepts are something most people have sort of frowned at upon my explanation. Link me to a thousand word excerpt and I'll give you a critique.

(edit) Ninjaed. Blasted mid-post diaper change.

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