A scene break says time, place or viewpoint has shifted, without the full stop of a new chapter. The mark is small, and a wrong one is easy to spot.
What is a scene break?
It is a pause inside a chapter. The story continues, but something has jumped: an hour later, another room, another character's head. A chapter break is the bigger signal and usually starts a new page; a scene break stays on the same page with a little space and a mark.
When to use one is an editorial choice, covered in how long a chapter should be. This post is about the mark.
Which scene break symbols can you use?
Several, and the choice is mostly taste. What matters is that the mark is visible, centred and the same throughout the book.
| Mark | What it looks like | Where it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Three spaced asterisks | * * * | Any book; the safe default |
| Asterism | ⁂ | Literary fiction, older styles |
| Single centred asterisk | * | Minimal designs |
| Hash | # | Submission manuscripts only |
| Printed ornament or fleuron | A small flourish | Print books with a designed look |
| Short centred rule | A line a few characters wide | Non-fiction and modern designs |
| Blank line alone | Extra space, nothing else | Avoid: it vanishes at a page break |
Three spaced asterisks are sometimes called a dinkus. Whatever you call them, they work in every typeface and every format, which is why they are the default in so many books.
Why is a blank line not enough?
Because a blank line at the bottom of a page, or at the top of the next, looks exactly like no break at all. The reader turns the page and the scene has changed without warning. That is the main reason every style guide asks for a visible mark.
The same problem appears in ebooks. A reflowable book has no fixed pages, so the reader's font size decides where breaks fall, and a blank line can land at the edge of the screen on one device and mid-screen on another. A printed mark survives any layout. Widows, orphans and the page breaks that spoil a book covers the related problem of lines stranded at a page edge.
What should you use in a manuscript?
A centred # on its own line, unless the agent or editor asks for something else. That is the standard in manuscript format, and some editors also accept three asterisks. The point is the same: a typesetter must be able to see the break and cannot mistake it for a stray paragraph gap.
Do not design breaks in a submission. Ornaments and fleurons belong to the typeset book. A manuscript's job is to be easy to edit, and a plain mark is easiest.
How should a scene break look in a printed book?
Centred, with a little space above and below, and the same every time. A few details separate a careful book from a hasty one.
- Keep the mark small. It should be noticed, not admired. Body size or smaller is usual.
- Do not indent the first paragraph after the break. In most book styles, the paragraph after a scene break starts flush left, the same as the first paragraph of a chapter.
- Match the book's typeface. An ornament from a different family looks pasted in. Many text faces include a fleuron or an asterism.
- Never let the mark sit alone at the top or bottom of a page if your tool lets you prevent it.
Dedicated formatting tools offer ornamental breaks as a style choice. Atticus vs Vellum compares two that do, and what typesetting involves explains where scene breaks fit in the wider job.
How do scene breaks work in an ebook?
The rules are the same, and the blank-line problem is worse, since the page edge moves with the reader's settings. Use a visible mark. Asterisks are the most reliable, because every reading system displays them correctly. An image ornament works too, but it adds a file, needs alt text and can look blurred or oversized on some screens.
Kindle and EPUB conversion tools also tend to collapse extra spacing, which is one more reason the break should be a character rather than space. Why your EPUB was rejected covers the checks a file goes through before a store accepts it.
How do you mark a scene break in Markdown?
This is where Markdown needs care. The natural mark in plain text is three asterisks or three dashes on their own line, and in standard Markdown both of those draw a horizontal rule, not a centred ornament. Three dashes placed directly under a line of text also turn that line into a heading. Markdown for writers explains that trap.
The options, by how your tool treats them:
| You type | Standard Markdown result | Note |
|---|---|---|
* * * on its own line | A horizontal rule | Fine if your tool styles rules as breaks |
--- on its own line | A horizontal rule | Blank line above it, or the line above becomes a heading |
\* \* \* | Three literal asterisks | Escaped, so they print as typed |
⁂ | The character itself | Needs a font that has the glyph |
| A blank line | Nothing visible | Avoid |
Whichever you choose, use the same mark throughout the file, so it can be found and changed in one search later. If your manuscript started in Word, Word to Markdown covers converting existing breaks cleanly, and how to control page breaks in Markdown covers the chapter breaks that do start a new page.
Scene breaks and chapter breaks in bukpress
bukpress gives each its own line of plain Markdown. A line of four dashes, ----, prints a divider: the small ornamental rule between scenes or sections, centred in the text. A line of three dashes, ---, is a hard page break, for chapter starts. Both stay readable in any other editor, so the file is never locked to one tool.
She closed the door and did not look back.
----
By morning the snow had covered the road.
---
## Chapter FourThe live preview shows each break on the page as the export will set it. Export a typeset PDF from the Markdown, and on Pro a reflowable EPUB from the same file, with the dividers carried into both.
Common questions
What is the symbol for a scene break called?
Three spaced asterisks are often called a dinkus, a triangle of three asterisks is an asterism (⁂), and a decorative flourish is a fleuron or printer's ornament. Most people just call it a scene break or a section break.
Should the paragraph after a scene break be indented?
Usually not. Most book styles set the first paragraph after a scene break flush left, like the first paragraph of a chapter, and indent the paragraphs that follow.
Can I use a different symbol in each part of the book?
You can, but it rarely helps. A change of mark reads as a change of meaning, so keep one mark for scene breaks and save anything different for a genuine structural signal, such as a new part.
Do scene breaks count toward word count?
No. Word counts include words only. A scene break adds a line or two of space to the page count, which matters only in a book with many very short scenes.