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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/48887
License name: CC BY-SA 4.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

I have read many books where the character is in one place at a certain time and, without a scene break being utilised, they are all of a sudden in a different place at a different time, _but_ it works smoothly and doesn't given the readers whiplash. Is it always necessary to use scene breaks when the character transitions to a different place, location, and time?

For example, a character is in the principal's office in the morning, then, without using a scene break, they're in the cafeteria at lunch time. Or, when a character is at home, say, in the evening, then events lead them to a different location, time _and_ date, but a scene break also hasn't been used in this transition.

I hope this makes sense. It's just, I've read books where the author has used a scene break for transitions, and I've also read books where there are so many transitions in one scene, but it runs very smoothly.

Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: Referring to scene breaks, upon doing some research I see that there are two types of scene breaks; a soft scene break (an extra space between the paragraphs) and a hard scene break (the use of astericks or lines). I suppose what I am trying to figure out is when either of these scene breaks should be utilised. Are there any rules for this when creating a chapter? Or is it simply up to the writer to figure out how they would structure their chapter, even with all these technicalities.

Original score: 1