Is it advisable to add a location heads-up when a scene changes in a novel?
In my novel, I have a scene at home which changes to scene at the office which is completely different. I have written it in a way that in a line or two the reader will understand the scene is changed but I am not sure. I am asking is it advisable to mention a scene change by adding a phrase like, 'back in the office' or 'back at home'. Each time it feels lack of confidence.
Following is example of my writing.
"What's wrong now? You are looking worried something must be wrong" Aakash inquired getting out. "I am having a feeling that we are not ready for this at the present moment as our life is not what we want." "In that case, we should plan an abortion." Aakash gave a heads-up to what I was feeling.
Back in the office, Richard and Dr. Zhang had a successful undertaking to procure funds. This meant that now some of the funds were allocated to me for pure re-search. For the most effective and life-like implementation of gaming systems, I con-sulted experts in the fields of Psychology, Business Management, Sociology, Mathe-matics, and Computer Science.
It's always a good idea to give your readers some indication that the setting (whether time or place) has changed. You c …
5y ago
Don't be hamfisted. If you provide enough good hints of the location, that's sufficient. The location should be establis …
5y ago
One of the major uses of chapter-changes and section-changes is to signal a change of scene (or similar, e.g. passing of …
5y ago
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Don't be hamfisted. If you provide enough good hints of the location, that's sufficient. The location should be established, but telling it directly like that is a rather rarely used stylistic tool that makes your story resemble a report. Which is rarely advisable, unless it's your purpose, e.g. this being a crime or military novel written in the report-like style.
It's usually best to give a bit of description that sets the place better than 'the office'. Give the mood of the scene, the ambience, the environment, the dynamics.
"Hey, Mark!" Joe waved frantically, shouting through the din of the office, pushing past a group of interns busy slacking off by the water cooler, and dodging a cart ladden with xerox paper. "Mark! I've got it!"
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It's always a good idea to give your readers some indication that the setting (whether time or place) has changed. You could do something like
... and she flopped onto the sofa, clutching the picture to her chest. Tears rolled down Alice's cheeks as she thought of her wife.
Shanti leaned back in the plush leather chair. Alice was probably waiting for her at home, even though she'd texted her. But she had too much to do.
This works if you've already established that Shanti and Alice are in different places. A line break usually signals a change in setting and/or POV character.
You can have a sentence at the beginning indicating a different place, but it has to be done well. "Back at the offfice" sounds very colloquial, as though someone is narrating. This could work in some kind of first person narrated-after-the-fact story
... And so my sister sobbed her heart out for her wife,all the while never doubting that their love would overcome even this.
Meanwhile, at the office, Shanti was busy trying to get her secretary to go out with her for drinks. Hey, you only live once, and in this case, not even for very long. I don't know that I wouldn't do the same in her place.
In this case, the kind of abrupt scene change is a part of the narrator's voice, and has a comic effect. You can also do the thing they do in spy movies
London, 1954
A spectre is haunting London...
Here, you've gotten the setting and time right away. This format is generally common in thriller/mystery/spy novels, afaik.
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One of the major uses of chapter-changes and section-changes is to signal a change of scene (or similar, e.g. passing of time). The show-don't-tell advice in other answers is sound--and with a section break, the reader knows a scene change may have happened, so you don't need to do much 'showing'. This is important, because too much 'showing' just to tell the reader we've moved location can be a weakness.
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