WHAT IS A FOUR SPACE SKIP, AND WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AND FOUR SPACE SKIP AND A SECTION BREAK?
by zentao

A four space skip is simply hitting enter twice or the carriage return twice to leave two blank lines between one section of text and the next section of text. A section break is accomplished by hitting enter to leave one blank line, then centering three asterisks on the next line, leaving another empty line, then starting to type again.

EXAMPLES:

The difference between:

a FOUR SPACE SKIP

double spaced text text text text text text text text text.     double spaced text text text text text text text text text.

and a SECTION BREAK

double spaced text text text text text text text text text.   *   *   *   double spaced text text text text text text text text text.

 

The 4 SPACE SKIP is used to indicate passage of time, a change of location, but continuing the same scene. ....basically it is a separation between related scenes or subscenes.

The section break using asterisks is used to indicate a complete scene break, a character change when you aren't using blended multi-pov's (head-hopping).

There are some distinctions with POV shifts, though. Let's say I am writing a chapter that is one action scene splattered across several character's perspectives. I don't want to slow the action down with an asterisked section break, so I use the four space skip instead even though I am changing characters

To try to make it clear, a four space skip is used anytime you have a clear separation in the scene, but the next part is closely related to the one before. Scene BREAKS, indicated by the three asterisks is a clear break of one scene and a clear start of some other unrelated or related but distinctly stand alone. Scene breaks are most similar to chapter breaks, whereas the four space skip is used to avoid unecessary transitional exposition.

Correlations can be made between a subheading and a secondary subheading in non-fiction works. In fiction, the chapter is to the section break what the section break is to the four space skip.

As to manuscript formatting, adding [[ 4 SPACED SKIP ]] is optional, but often can aid an editor or typesetter when the four space skip becomes ambiguous in pagination, the differentiation disappearing because the four space skip occurs at the top or bottom of a page.

double spaced text text text text text text text text text.   [[ 4 SPACE SKIP ]]   double spaced text text text text text text text text text.

A word of warning: Many editors today are, for the most part, unfamiliar with this particular protocol, so just leave the manuscript marking out and deal with missed four space skips during the proofing stage, advising your editor of missed four space skips in the galley.

© Copyright 2007 zentao

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