A word about narrative weight in your fiction
I just wanted to write a little post about the idea of “Narrative Weight” in prose, because it is a place where much (especially) student writing falls short. The idea is simple enough, Every page, paragraph, even every word needs to do one of two things: further the plot or themes, or further the reader’s understanding of a character. Basically, everything you write needs to justify its own worth within the text. This isn’t quite as important in prose as it is in poetry, but it is important. You can’t just write loosey-goosey in your prose and expect to be dubbed TC Boyle Jr. or something.
So your prose’s narrative weight is one thing to consider during the editing process. Begin checking every scene to make sure that something new is occurring, or some new insight is gained, if not, either try to working something in, either a bit of foreshadowing, a bit more about your character, or something about the plot should be furthered. It is a good idea to streamline your fiction as much as you can to make it the most effective presentation of the story you’ve thought up. There you go. Another thing to consider in your writing: Narrative weight. Oftentimes extraneous detail or ancillary characters can throw off the pace of a book, or slacken the tension because they aren’t pulling their own narrative weight. So weigh your words like they’re boxers about to go into the ring or your fictional world. If they don’t weigh enough when it comes to your plot, themes or character, then it might be time to cancel that fight, perhaps give some other words a shot. Word.