Writers please readers by telling stories that are enjoyable and memorable. To be memorable, a story must have some emotional and intellectual impact.
When a great story is finished, readers believe nothing in their lives will ever be exactly the way it was before they experienced the story. This awe-filled awareness comes from a new recognition or reversal of thinking, or a feeling that emerges when characters face conflict in the story that they resolve in meaningful ways.
The true significance in a story is in the quality of the telling, not by the elevated style of the prose.
For good storytelling, stories must be structured to provide continuous and total enjoyment to the reader through unified character action. The reader must be compelled to go on.
I once heard a successful playwright say that each episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show had been for her like a textbook in writing structure. I wholeheartedly agree. Each episode repays the most careful study. While the scripts have many authors, the guiding hand of Carl Reiner is evident through all 158 episodes. My fantasy has always been to one day write something so admired that I can give the credit to Carl Reiner and those brilliant half-hours.