Purpose #1: A passage can deepen characterization.

Bringing characters to life on the page is incredibly important. If readers don't first make a connection with your characters, they simply won't care about your story's conflict and its consequences. Thus, scenes, descriptions, conversations, and expository passages that lend themselves to deepening readers' understanding of your characters will always serve an important purpose in your story.

Purpose #2: A passage can show Character Development.

Bringing characters to life on the page is important, as is showing how those characters develop as a direct result of your story's conflicts. Such development often plays directly into theme and gives your story some vital emotional depth and weight, even in the most light-hearted of tales.

Purpose #3: A passage can Discuss Theme.

Themes are the topics discussed throughout a story, and they often appear whether or not an author consciously builds them into their work. Taking the time to weave established themes into a story, however, can lend to that very same emotional depth and weight we discussed above.

Purpose #4: A passage can advance the Plot.

In the same way that character development advances a character's internal journey, passages that advance your plot help maintain the pace of your story and keep readers (and characters) rolling toward the final climax.

Purpose #5: A passage can ground readers in the story.

Characters and conflict cannot take place in a vacuum. Exposition is an easy place to overwrite, yet a story that doesn't ground its readers in a specific world via a little necessary description and narration will only leave readers feeling afloat instead.

Purpose #6: a passage can Transition between scenes.

On occasion, a few lines may accomplish none of the purposes listed above yet still serve one very key purpose: transition. By switching locations, showing a change in atmosphere or a passage of time, or shifting point-of-view characters, transitions are often a very necessary piece of the literary puzzle.

