When we watch TV or a movie. When you read a book. What parts are most gripping? Is the death of a character? The unity of the love interests? An unexpected reunion of rivals?
These are plot points. Almost formulation in most current Hollywood cinema story telling. Weight however is the importance of each critical plot point, usually surreptitiously foretold at an earlier point and expressed while it is currently happening.
It's the reason why you can watch one movie, see a character die and feel shocked but not emotionally invested. Most likely it's because the characters death was presented as a plot point and not an organic tragedy with real story weight impact.
It's the reason why so many fights or altercations in movies, TV, stories. Seem cool but ultimately feel hollow. The weight behind the conflict and the actual weight during the conflict need to be fully expressed to allow the viewer additional insight into the characters and the impact of the conflict at hand.
In Beta Earth, I work hard to detail every fight scene, romance, death to ensure it's not just fluff, a plot point checklist. It's a learning session and dissected by nuances to give you further insight into the world and its workings.
It many ways, stories should not be written/shown plot point to plot point in checklist fashion. They should be structured towards the weight points. Reader's should be led from one weight point to the next.
