Transitions in

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

are words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or

punctuation Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...

that may be used to signal various changes in a story, including changes in time, location, point-of-view character, mood, tone,

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

, and

pace Pace or paces may refer to: Business *Pace (transit), a bus operator in the suburbs of Chicago, US * Pace Airlines, an American charter airline *Pace Foods, a maker of a popular brand of salsa sold in North America, owned by Campbell Soup Compan ...

. Transitions are sometimes listed as one of various

fiction-writing modes A fiction-writing mode is a manner of writing with its own set of conventions regarding how, when, and where it should be used. Fiction is a form of narrative, one of the four rhetorical modes of discourse. Fiction-writing also has distinct form ...

Purpose

Transitions provide for a seamless

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

flow as a story shifts in time, location, or point-of view. They aid the internal logic of a story by moving readers from sentence to sentence, paragraph to paragraph, idea to idea,

scene Scene (from Ancient Greek, Greek σκηνή ''skēnḗ'') may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Scene (subculture), a youth subculture from the early 2000s characterized by a distinct music and style. Groups and performers * The S ...

to scene, and chapter to chapter with grace and ease. Transitions in fiction also refer to how the trajectory of characters changes according to the various factors that affect them. The spatial and temporal changes affecting the characters help in the plot development. This shift can also denote a parallel transition that takes place regarding the state of mind of the character.

Types

Transitions in fiction may take any of several forms, including chapter breaks,

section break In books and documents, a section is a subdivision, especially of a chapter. Sections are visually separated from each other with a section break, typically consisting of extra space between the sections, and sometimes also by a section headin ...

s, and summarization.

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, 1998, p
137-8

Footnotes

References

* * * *{{cite book, title = Make a Scene: Crafting a Powerful Story One Scene at a Time, first = JE, last = Rosenfeld, publisher =

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...

Books, location = Cincinnati, OH, year = 2008, isbn= 978-1-58297-479-8 Writing * *

Purpose

Types

See also

Footnotes

References