proper use of the asterick

scripter1 · Apr 19, 2005

Hi ya'll.

I've been screenwriting for a while and I have a story that I'm working back and forth between a novel and a script.

I've seen astricks used in almost any book I've read but can't really figure out the RULE of using them.

This is what I mean.

A paragraph
blah blah blah blah blah blah

* * *

new paragraph
blah blah.

In most books it seems to be the same characters and designate some kind of in time or events.

Are there other situations and ways of using it?
Is there a rule or strict format about when, where, how to use it?
What if you want to change characters and maybe intercut them with other events and characters happening at the same time but you don't want to start another chapter?

This is my first attempt at this and so I'd really be interested in a complete and detailed explanation.

Thanks all for your time.

Julie Worth · Apr 19, 2005

Skipping a line indicates a shift—POV or time or space, while *** generally indicates a bigger shift. More than the skipped line, but less than a chapter. There’s no precise rule or consistent usage, as far as I can tell.

Maryn · Apr 19, 2005

Basically, it's a section break indicating the shifts Julie mentioned. I see asterisks most often when it's either POV or scene.

When you use blank lines and when you use asterisks (or other punctuation) may be the publisher's decision rather than the author's. Usually you indicate a break in a manuscript with the asterisks, so there's no possibility of confusion over an accidentally-skipped line.

Maryn

victoriastrauss · Apr 19, 2005

The copy editor's mark for a section break is this symbol: #

If you want to use asterisks, though, that's fine.

Whether the section break is indicated in the printed book by an asterisk(s), or some other symbol, or just a blank space, is the publisher's decision.

- Victoria

James D. Macdonald · Apr 19, 2005

It's a linebreak.

When you have the linebreak (essentially just a blank line) in the middle of a page, you oftentimes won't have any dingbats or asterisks or anything else. (Or you might -- it's up to the book's designer.)

When you'll see asterisks (or other symbols) is when the linebreak falls as the first or last line of the page. A blank line there might be missed, so the readers wouldn't know he was in a different scene. That would result in reader confusion.

The one thing you don't want to do is confuse your readers.

When you're submitting your manuscript you indicate a linebreak with a single pound sign (#) centered in an otherwise blank line, regardless of where on the page it is. Though if you used three asterisks (***) centered no one would blink an eye.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 20, 2005

Line break/scene break

scripter1 said:
Hi ya'll.

I've been screenwriting for a while and I have a story that I'm working back and forth between a novel and a script.

I've seen astricks used in almost any book I've read but can't really figure out the RULE of using them.

This is what I mean.

A paragraph
blah blah blah blah blah blah

* * *

new paragraph
blah blah.

In most books it seems to be the same characters and designate some kind of in time or events.

Are there other situations and ways of using it?
Is there a rule or strict format about when, where, how to use it?
What if you want to change characters and maybe intercut them with other events and characters happening at the same time but you don't want to start another chapter?

This is my first attempt at this and so I'd really be interested in a complete and detailed explanation.

Thanks all for your time.

Don't confuse what you see in a published book with what should be in a manuscript. In a manuscript, the right symbol to use is always a #.

Publishers, however, like to prettify the printed book, and to show individuality, so in a published book you'll see anything from three asterisks, to a solid line, to, in one book I have, three roses.

A # is the proofreader's mark that tells the typesetter to skip a ling and show a scene break, so in a manuscript, a # is used to indicate a scene break that isn't large enough, or simply isn't in the right place, or isn't long enough, to be a chapter break.

scripter1 · Apr 21, 2005

Thanks

That was exactly what I was looking for.

Julie Worth · Apr 21, 2005

Jamesaritchie said:
Don't confuse what you see in a published book with what should be in a manuscript. In a manuscript, the right symbol to use is always a #.

I use # for skipped lines. But I also use *** for more significant breaks, showing that in the MS as

#

***

#

since I want blank lines before and after. Is that non-standard?

James D. Macdonald · Apr 21, 2005

Yeah, that's non-standard, but if your book is rejected that won't be the reason why.

How linebreaks are represented is pretty much up to the book designer. If you need to differentiate various linebreaks, you'll have lots of opportunities to chat with your editor about what you'd like and whether it makes sense.

Julie Worth · Apr 21, 2005

James D. Macdonald said:
Yeah, that's non-standard, but if your book is rejected that won't be the reason why.

How linebreaks are represented is pretty much up to the book designer. If you need to differentiate various linebreaks, you'll have lots of opportunities to chat with your editor about what you'd like and whether it makes sense.

So how do I show two levels of scene breaks in the MS?

James D. Macdonald · Apr 21, 2005

Julie Worth said:
So how do I show two levels of scene breaks in the MS?

At risk of sounding flip: Any way you please.

Why do you need two levels of scene break? What more is that giving your reader?

Julie Worth · Apr 21, 2005

James D. Macdonald said:
At risk of sounding flip: Any way you please.

Why do you need two levels of scene break? What more is that giving your reader?

Well, why have scene breaks and chapters?

I use a blank line to indicate a change of place, time or POV, generally with one or more of the same characters, while I use *** to indicate a completely new—but related—scene.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 21, 2005

Blank line

Julie Worth said:
Well, why have scene breaks and chapters?

I use a blank line to indicate a change of place, time or POV, generally with one or more of the same characters, while I use *** to indicate a completely new—but related—scene.

The trouble with a blank line is that many copyeditors are taught to close them thinking the writer simply hit the enter key by accident.

I don't think there's ever really a need for two types of scene breaks. They all look the same in the published book, or all I've seen.

Julie Worth · Apr 21, 2005

Jamesaritchie said:
The trouble with a blank line is that many copyeditors are taught to close them thinking the writer simply hit the enter key by accident.

No, see, I'm using # in the MS for blank lines.

I don't think there's ever really a need for two types of scene breaks. They all look the same in the published book, or all I've seen.

A blank line looks the same as ***?

maestrowork · Apr 21, 2005

The Jameses are correct. If you just put a blank line in your ms, the editor/typesetter will close them. If you put a # in place of the blank line, you are telling them -- LEAVE ME A BLANK here, dammit.

As for ***, &&&, @@@@, etc. leave it to production time...

I think people use blanks for scene change. They might use *** or some variation of that for a more dramatic change, sort of a section break/mini-chapter break:

Mary ate a little lamb.

***

10 Days later, across town, Jack climbed a bean stalk.

reph · Apr 21, 2005

Two kinds of line breaks within a chapter? That sounds like a structure that readers wouldn't know how to interpret. It's almost creating an outline form and organizing your text in it.

Julie Worth · Apr 21, 2005

reph said:
Two kinds of line breaks within a chapter? That sounds like a structure that readers wouldn't know how to interpret. It's almost creating an outline form and organizing your text in it.

Okay, I’ll admit it’s unusual. I had to open 7 books before I found one: The Gulag Archipelago. Solzhenitsyn uses blank lines for minor breaks and little squares with blank lines before and after for major breaks. So argue with him!

* * *

Looking through a few more, I find:

In Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas, Tom Robbins uses three levels of breaks. There are horizontal lines, clock time, and days.

In James Herlihy’s rather short midnight cowboy, he uses blank lines, chapters, and parts.

In Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs uses blank lines, three asterisks, and chapters. Just like me!

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