According to Jessica Page Morrell, in Between the Lines, "Transitions are like punctuation in your sentences - - you employ them as a courtesy to readers so they find their way through your story and keep the fictional dream flowing."

Punctuation may not be the first thing writers consider when thinking of transition, but in reality, punctuation is all about transition. As observed by Rene J. Cappon, in the Associated Press Guide to Punctuation, "Punctuation in skilled hands is a remarkably subtle system of signals, signs, symbols and winks that keep readers on the smoothest road." Those signs and symbols are indicating change of some sort; in other words, they are facilitating transition.

Transition exists on three levels of punctuation: micro, meso, macro.

* Micro-level transitions punctuate sentences: periods, commas, semicolons, colons, dashes, dots, question marks, exclamation marks, etc.

* Meso-level transitions define paragraph structure with paragraph breaks.

* Macro-level transition includes the bullhorns of punctuation: section breaks and chapter breaks.

As stated by Noah Lukeman, in A Dash of Style, "Few people would think of the paragraph break as a punctuation mark, but it certainly is." Also notes Lukeman, "The section break (also known as the line space) is the most subjective of punctuation marks. [It] is used to delineate sections within chapters, which might range from several paragraphs to several pages. It signifies a major transition within a chapter, usually a change of time, place, or even viewpoint."

Chapter breaks, another form of punctuation, are used for a variety of purposes, but they often coincide with a change in time, location, and/or viewpoint. As such, they are an important means of signaling transition.

CHAPTER BREAKS

According to Jordan E. Rosenfeld, in Make a Scene, "The end of a . . . chapter is a note to the reader that you are concluding something, taking a break from the preceding events in order to change, refresh, or throw a twist into character or plot details." As Rosenfeld indicates, a chapter break may signal a change in the story's action. But a chapter break might also involve a change in time, location, or viewpoint character.

Readers have been conditioned to expect that the end of one chapter and the beginning of another coincides with changes of one sort or another. If the changes signaled by a chapter break are slight (little or no change in time or location), then the chapter

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