Hello all
When a period of time passes in a story, you often see an asterisk (*) in between the paragraphs showing the end of one period of time to the beginning of another. My question is do you think this is necessary when only two weeks have passed?
There's no set rule, but it can be a matter of degree, Andrew. If you have major and minor breaks within a chapter you could save the asterisk for the major ones and use the space for the others. This is known as the hierarchy of subsections. For instance, if you want to change a POV at the end of a scene, so that character B can add a few thoughts to what has been viewed through the eyes of character A, you could use a space there. It's all part of the same scene, but it isn't the same as what has gone before. If you then want to shift to another place or time, use the asterisk. If you only ever have one kind of break within a chapter, choose one thing and stick to it.
If you are sending this to a particular publisher, check out other books they have produced and see if there's a house style.
Lorraine
Thanks Lorraine. I think you're right. I tried it without anything and it still seems a bit sudden, even with the mention of the short time passing in the narrative, so I'll put the asterisk in. I never really liked the extra space thing - it always just looked like an unnecessary blank space to me, but then I'm still a novice at all this. Is the extra space thing the correct method?
You definitely need a break after the attack, Andrew; you can't just roll straight on with the story two weeks later. A double line space will do the job for you.
Lorraine