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🎬 This post is Part 3 in a series on writing powerful scenes. 🎬

So, what do we mean when we talk about scene transitions?

A scene transition takes readers and characters to a new time, location, or viewpoint. They can also be used to show a character's change of heart or frame of mind, as well as shifts in the tone or mood in the story.

Transitions help us show moments in a character's life or day that may otherwise be difficult to portray. For instance, if a story takes place over a span of years, readers don't need to know everything that happens in the characters’ lives. However, they may need to understand the passage of time between significant events or the progression of smaller situations that may have led to something important. So, we can use scene transitions to skip periods of time or change to a new location, skimming over events that happen between the scenes.

How long should transitions be?

Well, they can be as short as a single word. How is that possible? Consider this one: “Later…” Or they may be a little phrase like, “Later that night…”

Transitions can also be as long as several paragraphs, but we shouldn't extend them much beyond that. If a transition is too long, it risks becoming an info dump, a large portion of telling that prevents the reader from remaining emotionally connected with the story.

Let's examine the various purposes for using scene transitions.

The information contained in a transition will depend on the reason for the scene change and how the current scene relates to the previous one.

Continuing Event, New POV

For example, you might have two scenes in a row that are a continuous portrayal of the same event, but the second scene shifts into a different character's viewpoint or perspective.

In this case, the transition won't need to focus as much on the time and place. Since it's picking up right where the previous scene left off, there isn't a time jump, and likely the location will be the same, as well. Often, these types of transitions will pick up with the next sentence in a conversation.

New POV and Setting

However, if your scene switches to a different character's point of view and an event taking place in another location, the transition must make the setting clear.

The timing of this scene in relation to the previous one needs to be evident, as well. Does it take place at the same time as the event that occurred in the previous scene, just with a different character in another location? Does it happen sometime later? Using transition words like meanwhile, that night, two hours later, etc. can help.

Same POV, New Setting

If the viewpoint character remains the same between two scenes, the scene change will occur because of a major shift in time or location.

In this case, your transitions should still identify your viewpoint character, just to make sure the reader knows we are still in that character's head, but setting details need the strongest emphasis in the transition.

When and where should we use scene transitions?

In the Beginning

Every time one scene ends and a new one begins, some form of transition is needed.

Chapter headings and scene breaks within chapters will clue the reader in that some kind of shift is happening, but the narrative needs to reveal that as well. Especially these days, with the rise in popularity of audiobooks, the actual text of the story needs to reveal that this change is taking place. Readers who are listening to audiobooks won't see the blank line or symbol that acts as a scene break.

A scene's or chapter's opening transition needs to identify place, time, and viewpoint character.

Endings

Though most transitional information is usually placed at the beginning of a new scene, the ending of a previous scene can also hint at an upcoming change.

New chapters often require stronger transitions. However, sometimes a chapter ends with a cliffhanger, and the events of the scene continue in the next chapter. In this case, the transition at the beginning of the next chapter can be more brief. However, it still needs to reconnect readers with the viewpoint character, location, and event in case readers have taken a break between chapters and returned to the book a while later.

Combined Transitions

Sometimes, transitions join forces. One of the most powerful transitional techniques is to combine the ending of one scene with the beginning transition of another.

When a writer ends a scene with a teaser of what is to come, the scene in which that hinted-at event occurs may not need as much detail in its opening lines. At the very least, this teaser ending and the opening transition of the next scene will grab readers and pull them into that anticipated event.

This technique can also be very effective if you hint at an event in one scene and that event doesn't take place until later, whether you place a single scene between those two or several. Maybe you're switching to a new viewpoint character and showing what's going on with that person, between hinting at the event that's going to happen with the first character and actually paying that event off for the reader.

Mid-Scene Transitions

Minor transitions may even need to occur during a scene. (This is the unexpected transition I mentioned at the beginning of the post.)

Sometimes, a character's movement to a new location happens onstage, so to speak. The reader has a sense of moving with the viewpoint character, so no scene break is needed, because no time is really skipped while the character is switching locations.

For instance, the character might be in the house for the first part of the scene and walk outside for the ending of it. You wouldn't need a scene break to show this happening, because the reader can walk through that door and down the steps into the yard with the character.

These transitions may be only a couple of words or a few sentences. However, if no transition is included, the author may be guilty of what I like to call teleportation syndrome. The viewpoint character seems to just teleport, or magically appear, at the new location, and this change can feel jarring to the reader.

There are several types of scene transitions we can use.

Narrative Summary

Narrative summary is the most common type of transition, either to a new scene or within a scene.

Without using dialogue or detailed onstage action, the author condenses events, the passage of time, or a change in location into a brief description of who did what and when they did it.

This type of transition can provide important details without the need to expand the information into a full scene. However, use narrative summary with care and avoid telling the reader what's happening instead of showing events taking place. Too much narrative makes a scene feel more like a list of facts than an actual story.

Viewpoint Transition

The second type of transition we can use is a change in point of view.

If a story is told from more than one character's point of view, every scene needs to reveal the viewpoint character's identity right away, whether the previous scene was in the same viewpoint or a different one.

Make sure to match the transition's tone to the new viewpoint character's personality and mood, as well as using the appropriate language style and word choice for that character. The viewpoint character's personality and perceptions should color everything in the scene, especially the transition.

Even if a scene isn't switching to a new viewpoint character, it is still important to remind reader whose perspective they are experiencing.

What do I mean by all this? Well, let's say you're opening a scene with dialogue, and the first line reads: “Jill, what do you think about this?” Mark asked. If Jill is the viewpoint character for this scene, you’ll need to make sure the reader doesn't think Mark is a viewpoint character.

So, in the very next paragraph, you may show Jill's answer or just what she's thinking or feeling. You could use body language and internal responses to show the reader that we are in her head. Perhaps show Jill's chest tighten because this question causes an emotional response within her, and then she speaks. Or you can show her direct thought, italicized.

Change in Setting

The third type of transition we can use is moving to a new time or location.

Shifts in Tone or Mood

Another type of transition is a change in tone or mood.

If the mood or tone shifts in a new scene, that should be established very early.

While transitions can be used to change the tone, they can just as easily maintain the tone. For instance, if your story is humorous, keep your transitions funny as well. If your story's tone is dry or sarcastic, use dry or sarcastic transitions—within reason and where appropriate, of course.

Remember, a scene's tone should also be appropriate for the viewpoint character. If one viewpoint character is experiencing events that lead to depression, the tone should be pretty dark and dour, whereas another viewpoint character may be happy, so you would want that tone to be lighter.