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Q&A How to write intercut scenes in a novel?

The standard way of doing this in a novel is to use a single line with "---" centered or "***" centered, in between the intercuts. Don't let your editor auto-correct that into a horizontal line, it...

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

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-19T22:13:57Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48703
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T13:10:38Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/48703
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T13:10:38Z (almost 5 years ago)
The standard way of doing this in a novel is to use a single line with "---" centered or "\*\*\*" centered, in between the intercuts. Don't let your editor auto-correct that into a horizontal line, it should be "---" or "\*\*\*" (without the quotes). The typesetter for the book will convert this into whatever rule they decide on, it can be a curly separator or bold line or whatever, not up to you.

A centered separator is also a signal to the reader that one scene ended and another is beginning, so they expect a POV change. Alternatively, we use the same thing to indicate a passage of uneventful time; i.e. end one section with

> "She parked in the driveway, finally home, ready to collapse into bed."  
> Then center ---, then  
> "The alarm woke her up at eight. She could have slept hours longer, ..."

It is the same mechanism used for both, kind of a vertical ellipsis in away. If you want to sell your work, this is standard typesetting practice. I do not recommend inventing your own, unless you are self-publishing from a Word document and are your own typesetter. If you are submitting to agents and/or publishers, follow the standard. See [Correctly Formatting Your Novel Manuscript](https://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2010/07/16/correctly-formatting-your-novel-manuscript/).

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-10-24T11:52:33Z (about 5 years ago)
Original score: 3