Blank line vs. section divider between scenes?
I’m unsure when to use a blank line or a section divider (i.e. three asterisks) between scenes… especially in a few different scenarios. Here’s what I’ve been doing… does anyone know whether this is correct/incorrect? (Indie author, so I’m responsible for making sure it’s done correctly… and no useful info online…. 😅)
Large time transition (i.e. “three days later”): section divider
Switch to different pov: section divider
Space transition (i.e. “when he got out of the car”): unsure, I switch based on whether it’s structurally a new scene or not
Short time transition (i.e. “a few minutes later”): unsure, I switch based on whether it’s structurally a new scene or not
In traditionally published books, I usually see a blank line or even no visual indication of a transition for the last two, or when entering a montage scene. But that’s also generally in older books, like C.S. Lewis… and I’m not sure what the industry standard is today. I’ve noticed Harry Potter only uses asterisks for major scene transitions; it’s almost always just a blank line. But that’s the only recently published book I’ve seen do that—otherwise it seems like a book uses either a blank line or (more typically) asterisks or some other divider between scenes. Anyway… not sure what to make of it all, and I can’t figure out whether I’m doing it correctly or not.