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Q&A Adding breaks in a novel—spaces, asterisks, or a chapter break?

I was taught (long ago) to use three centered "---" on a line by itself in order to represent, within a chapter, a scene change or the passage of time. e.g. if somebody falls asleep; then "---", th...

posted 6y ago by Amadeus‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-19T22:13:03Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40987
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T01:45:49Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40987
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T01:45:49Z (about 5 years ago)
I was taught (long ago) to use three centered "---" on a line by itself in order to represent, within a chapter, a scene change or the passage of time. e.g. if somebody falls asleep; then "---", then "She woke to the alarm at 7:00 AM."

Similarly, if your whole scene is changing but you don't want to end the chapter for some reason,

> "Jack lugged his bags downstairs, and met the driver at the curb, and was on his way to the Chicago."  
> Then "---",  
> Then, "The following morning, the doorman found him a cab and he arrived at the Argyle building at nine."

I was specifically taught to never use extra vertical spacing, either break to a new chapter or put in a line of three dashes centered to indicate an intra-chapter break.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-01-02T19:41:16Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 2