: Re: Adding breaks in a novel—spaces, asterisks, or a chapter break? I am editing my first novel and wherever I find a natural break in the story, I add a few spaces. I want to go back and

@Holmes449

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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.

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