<p>Like in going from background information to straight into a scene.
Do people usually separate it when a few asterisk’s “***”?</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you are looking for *** so now I can’t answer. </p>
<p>Does that show you why you wouldn’t do that?</p>
<p>Just use a quick transitional sentence. Something like “flash forward (x time), and ______”, or some other jawn.</p>
<p>Huh? That made no sense lol.</p>
<p>Here’s what I mean. Take these 2 paragraphs for example:
“For 18 years I had loved her. For 18 years I had been by her side, from being inseparable childhood friends all the way through the awkwardness of those unforgettable teenage years. Then one day, I knocked on her door. No answer. It was dark inside, she had left. I was never to see her again, or so I thought”</p>
<p>"“You have one new friend request”. It was midterm week, the 3rd year of my college career. My stress level was high, I wanted to shout. But instead I concealed it all, like any sane person would and logged onto Facebook."</p>
<p>See what I mean? There time lapse there, and going from 1 paragraph to directly another doesn’t flow quite right.</p>
<p>Oh okay, um, do not use asterisks. If a reader has to question why something is there or why there’s an abrupt time change, you might want to change the structure of that part of the essay. Again, make a quick, smooth transition sentence to bridge the paragraphs.</p>
<p>Now I understand what you mean.</p>
<p>The solution is simple: do not use asterisks. Furthermore, do not include topical sentences that would normally function as section heads. Although it may be deemed cute at some levels to start out paragraphs with a “bang,” it usually works out quite poorly and seems amateurish. Here’s what I mean:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My wording is a bit clunky, but as you can see it flows perfectly well without a section head or a page break. </p>
<p>If you’re writing a short story, you might consider omitting this type of transition entirely. You can include section breaks in stories, and asterisks work fine in manuscripts. However, you definitely wouldn’t want to show all your cards in the first sentence. Allow tension to build, and then it can be just as surprising for the audience as it was for you when the friend request rolls in. In that case, begin your second paragraph with something like, “Midterms always stressed me out, and junior year was definitely no exception. Rather than studying, however, …” etc. etc.</p>