DawnMorningStar

Hee hee...that was great, really. I appreciate you taking so much time on this. You really don't have to!

But hmm...let me paste just a tad of what's going on in my story at the moment so you can see what I'm referring to. (please keep in mind that this is a VERY rough draft):



“I am not afraid of you, Adron” Quintin said calmly.

The vampire’s lips curled up into a cruel, gleeful smile, revealing two rows of very sharp teeth. “Hmmm…not very smart then, are you?”

Suddenly, as if his words were an invitation beckoning the others into action, the group of vampires quickly converged upon the solitary man. Clara gasped from her place at the window, her chest tightening with worry and fear as she watched them latch onto him, fingers digging within the folds of his cloak.

***

Vincent sat on the floor of the cellar, hugging his knees and rocking gently. His muscles clenched as his mind pulsed with images of what might be happening up above. He strained in the darkness with all his might, hoping to hear something—anything that might provide a hint as to how things were progressing in the world that dwelled outside this small, damp space. But he could hear nothing. He could see nothing. It felt, suddenly, as though the walls were closing in on him.



Basically, the character Quintin is outside fighting vampires and Clara his wife, is watching through the window inside the house. I can probably keep their perspectives together because they're both involved in the same scene. But when it switches to Vincent who's down in the cellar, I think I need the *** (centered of course) or something to break it up. What do you think?

Nazareth

Well, I'm thinking that although he is seperated from the main action, he is still part of the overall scene & might need a link somehow- perhaps he thinks he heard something & you could show his fears or thoughts as he tosses wild images around in his mind to give it a bit of a link.

Basically, the asteriks are used to seperate two totally unconnected scenes, like when you show two people in a boat racing toward the mainland, then switch altogether to a scene of another character doing something altogether unrelated to the boat scene, like a scientist working on a formula to grow hair on tomatoes or something

DawnMorningStar

Actually, I do have him hear Clara scream just a bit later, but it's after another switch in perspective back to the other two.

I think it's definitely important to have something that links Vincent to the scene going on outside, which I'm definitely doing. I think I'll go ahead and have the *** to separate his scenes from the other two (it's only for a short time anyway before he's with them again). That way, no one can get confused, wondering why I'm suddenly writing about a dark cellar instead of what's going on outside.

Thanks for all of your help!

safari invasion

I was always taught to use astericks to separate scenes that are divided by a page. Generally, just use spaces, but if those spaces push the next scene to the next page and it will be hard to tell that the scenes are supposed to be separate, then go ahead with the astericks. I'm not sure if that is right, though.

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DawnMorningStar

Oh, okay. So if say, page 5 has the three perspectives, all coming from characters in different areas, you would just use the extra space between the sections, but if it continues onto page 6, starting with a new perspective, then it's best to use the asterisks. Right?

Hmmm...why does this have to be so complicated?

Maybe I'll go home tonight and see if I can find any books that use this shift in perspective and see how many use the spaces versus how many use the asterisks.

Thanks for the help!

safari invasion

That's what I thought, but I really can't be sure.... Good luck finding more info on the topic. Share what you find if you could! Thanks

__________________
"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams."
-Willy Wonka

DawnMorningStar

Thank you for your help! I'll definitely post an update when I find the answer!