Breaks in prose

[FrancesScott]

How do you handle breaks? Be they internal chapters, different parts of a series, or simply sections ended with a divider of some sort.

What is your logic for breaks (of whatever type)? Is it when a scene ends, when the location changes, the next day, when there is some sort of resolution or revelation, when you have a cliff hanger?

Of course the answer will be different for a chapter break vs a dinkus.

I guess, how do you choose to split you text up and why?

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

For me, usually when a scene ends or location changes. But more arbitrarily, I’ve (rarely) put a “***” within the same scene, to signal a shift in the conversation/topic between the same characters. My hope is it helps the reader take a mental breather, before strapping back in.

 

[FrancesScott]

For me, usually when a scene ends or location changes. But more arbitrarily, I’ve (rarely) put a “***” within the same scene, to signal a shift in the conversation/topic between the same characters. My hope is it helps the reader take a mental breather, before strapping back in.

I tend to use a dinkus (or something simillar) to indicate some shift in what is going on. That could be the end of a scene, or it cousin be a change in direction in what is happening.

 

[Writer61]

I used to put a tilde when significant scene changes happened, but it always felt a bit wrong.

However, in my recent stories, I have managed to convey such changes through the text alone.

 

[XerXesXu]

That's a good question.

I've never thought about it; I do it instinctively. I break text down into chapter and scenes within chapter. If there's a clear linkage between persons and place between scenes, I use a double paragraph break. If moving to a different time, place or characters I use a dinkus. Breaking into chapters I do by feel and instinct. Something that needed to be done at the beginning of the chapter has been done and it's time to move onto the next thing that remains to be done.

 

[filthytrancendence]

This is usually dictated by perspective for me.

If I'm in 1P, the breaks are usually when the character goes to sleep, or some other natural break where I need to skip some significant chunk of time. Of course, some 1P stories don't even need a break at all. And usually that's because the story takes place in a relatively small amount of time and in a single location or tightly grouped set of locations, like a few different rooms of a dwelling.

For my 3P stuff, the chapter breaks are due to switching PoV. If I need to stay in a PoV for some time skip, I'll do a dinkus. And usually a perspective switch occurs when the scene is over, or I want to pick up the narrative from a different PoV. It's usually accompanied by a change in setting, a jump in time, or both. If there is no clear hook to the next chapter at the end, I'll generally try and put in a hook/foreshadow to the next relevant chapter to give the reader an idea of where the story is going to resume when we get back to that PoV.

 

[FrancesScott]

I think the metaphor of letting the reader breathe is a good one here.

 

[Bamagan]

I usually use a dinkus (***) or some similar divider at the end of a scene that occurs within a chapter. That often involves changes in location, time, and narrator perspective as well, depending on the story. Sometimes I'll use a timestamp and/or location (New Orleans, July 10, 18:00) in lieu of a dinkus, if it feels right for the story or if the reader might benefit from knowing that things are happening sequentially, concurrently, etc..

 

[TheRedLantern]

I was about to reply, but now I'm trying to figure out what the plural of "dinkus" is.

 

[filthytrancendence]

I was about to reply, but now I'm trying to figure out what the plural of "dinkus" is.

dinkii, clearly.

 

[Bamagan]

I was about to reply, but now I'm trying to figure out what the plural of "dinkus" is.

****

 

[FrancesScott]

****

I wrote ‘dinkuses ‘ and changed it to ‘a dinkus’ for exactly that reason!

 

[TheRedLantern]

I rarely use, uh, dinkees. Only to signify an abrupt change, usually at the very end of my manuscripts to either wrap up the story with a final thought or to set up the fact that there's going to be a next chapter.

My writing style of short stories means I usually only have to string together a few scenes before it's over and I can usually do that without needing an abrupt change in scene.

When I'm writing something longer, then chapter breaks happen when the "theme" of the chapter has been resolved.

If I can end anything (except the final chapter) with a cliffhanger I absolutely will. What I've started doing is basically including what should be the first paragraph of the next chapter at the end of the current chapter (eg, in the story I'm working on, my POV character meets a guy named Lance. The last section of the chapter is her gearing up for the next chapter, and Lance shows up unexpectedly, cut to black, "to be continued ..." because the next chapter is going to be a conflict between her & Lance & the girl who is in love with Lance). I've seen people call this something about "loops". Each chapter (except the first & last) closes a loop and ends by opening the next loop, and I'm experimenting with this at the moment.

 

[Djmac1031]

Time jumps. Scene jumps/ cut aways. Perspective shifts.

 

[NotWise]

I try to write transitions rather than breaks. If a break seems like a better choice then I'll do a chapter break or use a dingbat to emphasize a scene break.

My upcoming story covers a period of four days. Each day is separated into a section headed with the date. The (short) last day consists of an emotional confrontation and the story's denouement, and those scenes are separated with a row of asterisks.

 

[SimonDoom]

I didn't know until it was called a "dinkus" (good to know I'm still learning things but sometimes I'm startled that I don't know them), but I use a dinkus to indicate a break in time or a change in perspective, or whenever I think it's needed. I think it works fine.

 

[FrancesScott]

There seem to be some common threads.

I’ve found a dinkus invaluable when changing narrator. Anything to help the reader not get lost.

 

[Cagivagurl]

A break is helpful when you need to move the story forward, or if need to go into something like a flashback memory, or perhaps it has been a long run of narration.
I think a pause can be a good thing.

Cagivagurl

 

[ronde]

I split up a story into scene changes or time changes. I use "}|{" to indicate that something has changed. I did get creative and use ">>-------->" in one story involving Native Americans, but usually it's just "}|{"

 

[TheLobster]

I split up a story into scene changes or time changes. I use "}|{" to indicate that something has changed. I did get creative and use ">>-------->" in one story involving Native Americans, but usually it's just "}|{"

Now we're asking the real question -- not where, but how?

*** ?
* * * ?
- - - ?
}|{ ?
>>------> ?
:heart::heart::heart: ?
🍀🍀🍀 ?
💦💦💦 ?
:poop::poop::poop: ?

 

[ElectricBlue]

There seem to be some common threads.

I’ve found a dinkus invaluable when changing narrator. Anything to help the reader not get lost.

I usually do this:

* * * *

and make it clear from the context immediately after the shift, who's head I am in close to (intimate or close third, obviously).

My latest story though, shifts the close third narrative quite rapidly from one MC to another, without overtly signifying the change. Which is usually verboten. Not a single soul has commented, and the story is doing okay. Which means I broke a "rule" but must have broken it cleanly.

 

[ronde]

Now we're asking the real question -- not where, but how?

*** ?
* * * ?
- - - ?
}|{ ?
>>------> ?
:heart::heart::heart: ?
🍀🍀🍀 ?
💦💦💦 ?
:poop::poop::poop: ?

I began doing his when I got a couple comments that said the reader was confused because I changes scenes or time periods with no warning.

As far as how you mark them, I don't know of any universally accepted method. Some novels I've read use chapters, others use some stylistic artwork. I don't think it really matters here as long as the reader understands something has changed.

 

[Writer61]

Now we're asking the real question -- not where, but how?

*** ?
* * * ?
- - - ?
}|{ ?
>>------> ?
:heart::heart::heart: ?
🍀🍀🍀 ?
💦💦💦 ?
:poop::poop::poop: ?

~

 

[TheLobster]

~

The first few times I've seen this one, I thought it was just a stray character, left in because of sloppy editing. Sure, it's clear it's a separator if you see it multiple times in a story, but I don't think it's prominent enough to suffice.

Personally I use ***, though * * * (with spaces) is the style I'm considering for my next standalone story. I also use ========= (9 equal signs) to separate anything non-story from the text, like the preamble with acknowledgements to beta readers etc.

As far as how you mark them, I don't know of any universally accepted method.

My favorite one, in a sense, which I've seen once or twice, was this:

Line Break

Yes, those literal two words

 

[FrancesScott]

I use:

<div align="center"><hr width="20%"></div>

Which doesn’t render here properly.