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That is, for example, suppose I have two plots going on, and I've sandwiched (ie. interleaved) them; a few paragraphs of one plot scene alternating with a few paragraphs of a 2nd plot scene.

To reduce or mitigate reader confusion, I'd like some kind of indication between sandwiched plot scenes(, which I do so readers don't get exhausted during long action scenes or narratives).

NOTE: Kindle Vella automatically inserts one blank line between each paragraph; and no indentation of first line of paragraph.

OPTIONS:

  1. Insert 1 or more extra blank line(s) at each break between alternate, sandwiched scenes.
  2. Insert "* * *" centered on the line, or some other marking characters.
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  • "Mechanical" style issues of this type are going to depend on where you want to publish. Look at other published items in the same location to see what they have done. Check if there is an official style guide.
    – Boba Fit
    Nov 25, 2022 at 18:48

1 Answer 1

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My two cents:

While I can think of no precedent or stylistic/formatting guideline for this, I feel that the '* * *' is rather more attractive. It has a sort of aesthetic appeal (personally speaking), and I generally associate double line spacing with a time skip or a fast-forward to the next scene, while the asterisks to me imply a change not only in time but also in perspective or setting. The only caveat is that several sets of these on a single page may look crowded or take away from the page's composition. This, I suppose, would depend on whether the entire book is split parallel or if it's only a chapter or two. Depending on how frequently the plot breaks you may want to choose something less obtrusive.

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  • Thank you, Heartspring. My feelings exactly. Specifically, it's 20k word story on vella where there are two parallel plots going on between two characters, one in 2nd person (because he's pretty arogant) and the other in 3rd person. I use * * * to separate them -- each is at a minimum 1000 words.
    – Doug Null
    Jan 7 at 2:06
  • Wonderful; glad this could help
    – CDR
    Jan 7 at 10:53

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