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Wed Apr 15, 2015 8:51 am
Moalex says...



Quick and easy question here. I'm sure everyone is having fun writing their stories and stuff and I came across a common problem that I'm sure lots of people had problems with.
When writing a story, is there a way to word the story without using the three stars? (* * *)
For example, say that in a story a student is taking the test. You want to write about what the student is doing before the test and what happened after the student is done with the test. I don't want to write about what the student is doing during the test because, well, it's a test. What else do you do on a test besides scrutinize your brain over and over again until you have all your answers or give up?

Normally I tend to abuse the "# of time has passed" or say that the event is over in a new paragraph but I feel as though that way of writing is kind of dull or hasty. I was wondering if anyone has a certain style of writing that they use for this type of situation.
  





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Wed Apr 15, 2015 6:43 pm
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Rosendorn says...



Scene or even paragraph breaks.

Readers don't need to be talked through every single time gap. If you show a student walking into a test, the next paragraph can simply be a single sentence summary of how they feel about said test as they walk out. If you'd had a scene before hand that naturally ended when they walked in and the topic changes after they come out of the test, you can just have a scene break and readers will understand.

This can cover large amounts of time, as well, so long as you finish the scene before making such a huge break. People generally accept that unimportant stuff has happened between breaks, and that you're jumping from one important event to another.

That being said, there are more clever ways to show # of time has passed without using those words. You can reveal character by how they summarize time, and you can intersperse it with actions that reveal how much time has passed ("for the sixth time in a day and a half, I'd gone to take care of [thing]").

All in all, unless it's absolutely critical to say how much time has passed, it's pretty safe to just do a scene or paragraph break and let readers assume nothing of importance happened in the skip.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Wed Apr 15, 2015 6:58 pm
AttackOfTheFlash says...



I'm currently writing a story where a lot of the first few chapters take place at school. When the characters are at school, I only write what I believe is important. For example, the main protag meets the secondary main protag at school, so of course I wrote about how they met.
But, not everything that goes on at school is exciting. So here's how I do it:
"It had been a while since..."
Or
"After class was over,"
Or something similar. Just wrap it up with a sentence or two.
Are you living or simply existing?
  





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Wed Apr 15, 2015 11:37 pm
Moalex says...



Thanks guys. Really helpful to know.
  








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