Question

I've always read that you should show a major break like this.

blah, blah, blah

*

blah, blah, blah

AOD23 said:

Time jumping...

In my current short story, there is a big leap in the time of when its taking place. And it jumps about a year down the line from one area to another. So what I'm wondering is, is there a common way of doing this?

What I mean for what I'm writting is basically:

Blablablablablablablablabla
blablablablablablablablabla
blablablablablablablablabla
blablablablablablablablabla

One year later...

blablablablablablablablabla
blablablablablablablablabla
blablablablablablablablabla

Now then, is that the correct way to do it? Or is there some other unverisal way that I dont know of for it?

Click to expand...

I wouldn't use "One year later," but I would use a version of it, as in: I/He didn't see Lisa year," or "A year passed without. . ." or "It was almost a year later. . ."

In other words, blend in the time passage to make the transition smoother.

I'm a fiction writer and when I have a span of time I use

* * *

and centre it in the middle of the page, double space between the lines

However,

James' version is great with or without the asterisks.

aod23

you have to write it, not indicate it with a formatting trick. like:

for a long time, through his second year of college and the summer after that, he didn't think of her at all. he was having an espresso at a sidewalk cafe, trying to enjoy what was sure to be one of the last sunny days of the year, when he saw her walking toward him, smiling as if they were still friends.

there is no formatting trick which indicates a passage of time. even if there was you would still have to write something that indicated a passage of time after inserting the formatting trick. i highly recommend writing it out

zilla
MoovyBoovy.com

I use the narrative method as James said if the story needs to keep moving. I use the *** method described above if the story takes a break, like a fade-out, and the story does not need to keep moving at that point. Sort of like a mini-chapter break in a short story.