Separating sequences in Chapters?

Live2Write · Oct 21, 2006

It's that time again Folks,

Live2Write asks another simple question that most people probably already know the answer to.

Now that I am writing in the correct font, what is the appropriate way to separate scenes in the same chapter?

Say, something happens and then hours go by and you begin the next paragraph.

I don't want to do a James Patterson and have 190 chapters so I'd like to know how to separate. lol!

Thanks!

Live2Write

Akuma · Oct 21, 2006

I myself use the simple way:

Enter
Enter

Bufty · Oct 21, 2006

Just begin the next indented paragraph with - 'After Sarah had showered....' or whatever. If it's a significant time lapse or the next scene is in a different location you could use a time-break *** centred in a line before starting the next para (with no indentation this time).

Check any book on your shelf.

Siddow · Oct 21, 2006

I use a #:

And then they went to bed.

#

The next morning...

rugcat · Oct 21, 2006

Siddow said:
I use a #:

And then they went to bed.

#

The next morning...

The pound sign (#) is, indeed, the standard way to indicate a scene break in a ms.

blacbird · Oct 21, 2006

Point being, as has been discussed elsewhere, it's a good idea to put some kind of symbol in on the extra line. If you just leave a blank line, and it falls at the end or beginning of a page, it can easily be missed.

caw.

RedMolly · Oct 21, 2006

Imelda, it's one of those weird UK/US things... it is, indeed, a pound mark here, signifying weight and not currency. It originally could be found in grocery stores ("Strawberries $1.25/#") and I think I've even seen it recently at farmers' markets. Mostly, though, it's just the "pound key" on phones which you must press endlessly to escape from voicemail hell...

(I think "hash mark" is a much nicer name, BTW.)

/digression

triceretops · Oct 21, 2006

I use the triple stars. A ways back they also advised the triple jump, or was it the four-space leap? Gak!

tri

Tracy · Oct 22, 2006

I'm with the triple stars. You need to let the agent/publisher and eventually typesetter know that it's a proper break, and that's a good way to do it. It's clear but not instrusive.

The publishing company will have their own house style, and will indicate mini-breaks their own way, so you don't need to worry too much about it (just indicate it so they know where those breaks are, as said above). Formatting is the publisher's job.

SeanDSchaffer · Oct 22, 2006

Live2Write said:
It's that time again Folks,

Live2Write asks another simple question that most people probably already know the answer to.

Now that I am writing in the correct font, what is the appropriate way to separate scenes in the same chapter?

Say, something happens and then hours go by and you begin the next paragraph.

I don't want to do a James Patterson and have 190 chapters so I'd like to know how to separate. lol!

Thanks!

Live2Write

What I do is go down from the bottom of one sequence two returns, and then place three pound signs (or '###') centered on the page, then another two returns and begin work on the next sequence.

So to put this into visual example...

-------------------

Sequence 1.

###

Sequence 2.

-------------------

I hope this helps. I wish you the best with your work.

Akuma · Oct 22, 2006

Well, damn, I need to start using symbols. Who knows what kind of chaos I've been creating with blank lines!

PeeDee · Oct 23, 2006

If I'm using the gap to indicate a passage of time or location between the same group of characters in both scenes, then I'll just space down a few times. Three. Five. Whatever.

If I'm going from a scene about one character to a scene about another character, I put three asterisks between the scenes (***) or at least, I did until the current Microsoft Word started making that into a big friggin' line. Now, I just do hash.

Make sure however you do it, you do it right. Otherwise, the police who would have came after you for using the wrong font will come after you for this. They're mean.

Carrie in PA · Oct 23, 2006

PeeDee said:
I put three asterisks between the scenes (***) or at least, I did until the current Microsoft Word started making that into a big friggin' line.

You know you can turn that off, right? When it automatically turns it into that obnoxious line, a little box will pop up with it - click on the box and tell it to stop auto-formatting your asterisks.

PeeDee · Oct 23, 2006

Carrie in PA said:
You know you can turn that off, right? When it automatically turns it into that obnoxious line, a little box will pop up with it - click on the box and tell it to stop auto-formatting your asterisks.

You've made me a happy writer, then. I suppose if I'd paid attention, I would have noticed that.

Always glad to turn another feature off, though.

Live2Write · Oct 24, 2006

So three stars it is! Thanks.

Bartholomew · Oct 24, 2006

The standard way to execute a scene break is with a single sharp sign, one indentation below the last paragraph of the previous scene and the first paragraph of the next scene

#

Like that.

#

This isn't something you should really be worrying about. Format when the document is complete.

Jamesaritchie · Oct 24, 2006

#

An editor will probably inderstand what you mean regardless of what symbol you use, but a single # centered on the line is the proper one. Editors, copyeditors, and typesetters all of them, use proofreaders' marks when editing a manuscript.

When you sell a novel and go through the editing process, you'll have to understand and use teh proper proofreaders' marks yourself, and it's best to use them right from the start so everyone is, uh, on the same page.

A single # centered on the line means "Insert a space." When centered on a line, it means, "I'm changing scenes here, so there should be an extra space left between these sentences."

Underlining for italics is also a proofreaders' mark. You wouldn't try to tell an editor to italicize a word by guessing at how to do it, would you?

It pays to have a list of common proofreaders' marks handy at all times. Most style manuals include a list, and there are many available for download. A list of the common proofreaders' marks can be found here: http://www.m-w.com/mw/table/proofrea.htm

FennelGiraffe · Oct 25, 2006

Bufty said:
Just begin the next indented paragraph with - 'After Sarah had showered....' or whatever.

Bufty's excellent advice got lost in all the discussion about what symbol, and how many thereof, to use for scene breaks.

While scene breaks are sometimes useful, they can be choppy when overdone. Most of the time, you want to use a transition between scenes. Just move smoothly into the next scene with, 'The next morning...' or 'When George arrived in Cleveland....'

Remando · Oct 25, 2006

As an editor, I prefer a single '*' if it is really necessary to show a time break; though the writing itself should show that time has passed.

Jamesaritchie · Oct 25, 2006

Remando said:
As an editor, I prefer a single '*' if it is really necessary to show a time break; though the writing itself should show that time has passed.

You're an editor and you don't use proofreaders' marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

Talk about things that make you go Brrrrrrr.

Cat Scratch · Oct 25, 2006

I usually do a round-off-back-handspring and end with jazz hands between sections.

I'm aware that I make no sense.

JD65 · Oct 25, 2006

Cat Scratch said:
I usually do a round-off-back-handspring and end with jazz hands between sections.

I'm aware that I make no sense.

Long day here - thanks for inducing a Diet Coke-out-the-nose guffaw.

Bufty · Oct 26, 2006

Of course one needs to somehow indicate the passage of time unless it's obvious, or your story takes place in real time.

Or are you just latching onto the word 'cut'?

Imelda said:
A good writer doesn't need to cut from one time to another, or use cliched phrases, unless they're switching POV.

spacejock2 · Oct 26, 2006

Three stars here, too.

And I cut out the boring stuff. If they're taking a 22-hour plane journey from London to Perth, for gawd's sake skip it unless something happens.

FennelGiraffe · Oct 26, 2006

imelda said:
Personally, I hate books that constantly say 'Next morning ...' But there again, I'm not especially fond of people who break all the time. A good writer doesn't need to cut from one time to another, or use cliched phrases, unless they're switching POV.

True, 'the next morning...' can be overused. If someone goes to bed in the dark in one paragraph and wakes up in daylight in the next, we can usually guess it's the next morning. Or say a character expresses the intention of driving to Grandma's house, then gets in his car. If the next paragraph shows him getting out of the car and saying, "Hi, Grandma," we probably don't need to be told where he is now. However, sometimes it's less obvious and the reader does need to be oriented to time and/or place.

A whole essay could be written on this subject (and probably has been)--when to use a scene break, when to use an explicit transition, when to use an implicit transition, and how to do each--but it looked to me like the original question indicated unfamiliarity with the basic concept of transition.

Live2Write said:
What is the appropriate way to separate scenes in the same chapter?

Say, something happens and then hours go by and you begin the next paragraph.

I don't want to do a James Patterson and have 190 chapters so I'd like to know how to separate.

Separating sequences in Chapters?

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