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 tradi ...
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. A ...
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 definitio ...
, 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.
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, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc ...
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 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 breaks, and
summarization.
[ Marshall, 1998, p]
137-8
See also
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Style (fiction)
*
Transition (linguistics)
A transition or linking word is a word or phrase that shows the relationship between paragraphs or sections of a text or speech. Transitions provide greater cohesion by making it more explicit or signaling how ideas relate to one another. Transiti ...
*
Writing
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols.
Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
Footnotes
References
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{{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 un ...
Books, location = Cincinnati, OH, year = 2008, isbn= 978-1-58297-479-8
Writing
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