o.k. Thanks everyone. Since they're a distraction and presumably not
necessary I'll take them out
Cindy
On Fri, Oct 9, 2015 at 12:01 PM, Roger Loran Bailey <
dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I don't make the rules, but I think I can see pretty clearly what the
rules in cases like this are for and that can allow one to figure out what
the rule would be. The purpose is clarity. That is also the purpose of
blank lines in the middle of text in a print book, to clarify that a scene
has changed or a passage of time has taken place. If there were no blank
line or other indication of a transition the reader would just blithely
keep reading and then become confused. Now, I am not a Braille reader, so I
don't know how a blank line would serve as a transition indicator in
Braille, but I do know that while using a synthetic voice set on continuous
read there is no indication of a blank line. It just keeps reading and so a
blank line would not serve as an indicator like it would for a sighted
reader. The same confusion would result as it would for a sighted reader
with no indicator. The asterisks are alternate indicators that a synthetic
voice will pick up. Now, there are cases of blank lines that do nothing for
clarity even for sighted readers. Yes, there may be multiple blank lines
after a chapter title and I have seen books in which each chapter starts
half way down the page and, of course, there is the common practice of
starting each chapter on a new page so that the last page of the preceding
chapter might have just one or two lines of text on it. None of this is
there to provide clarity. It is there for esthetic reasons. That is, it
looks better. When a synthetic voice is reading the material the esthetics
of multiple blank lines does not carry over. Asterisks that in some cases
serve to clarify transitions would, in cases like I have just described,
just be a distraction. To be honest, they are a bit of a distraction when
they appear as transition indicators, but at least they are serving to
clarify in those cases. As for the subject changing with a new chapter, the
mere fact that a new chapter has started is plenty of an indicator of a
transition itself. In fact, if there was no transition at all with a new
chapter then the author did a very poor job of determining where to divide
the narrative with a new chapter. So in a case like you describe I would
leave the asterisks out. I would use them only when they are needed to
clarify. If they do not clarify they only get in the way.
On 10/9/2015 2:03 PM, Cindy Rosenthal wrote:
That is what I saved, but I'm wondering, since in this case there is a
4-line blank space in the vook after the chapter title and the start of
the text and the text seems to change subject, if this would be different.
I did just put them in but I can easily take them out. I guess I'll ask
Madeleine. Thanks, though
Cndy
On Fri, Oct 9, 2015 at 10:22 AM, Judy s. <cherryjam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Hi Cindy,
Here's what Madeleine posted on it a little while ago:
"We also no longer need to “preserve” page breaks with asterisks on
either side of page breaks. We don’t need to add them to show new chapters
(on either side of chapters) either, as the word “chapter” followed by a
number is usually enough of a clue for anyone to figure out that there’s a
new chapter."
Hope that helps! smile.
Judy s.
Follow me on Twitter at QuackersNCheese
<https://twitter.com/QuackersNCheese>
On 10/9/2015 4:11 AM, Cindy Rosenthal wrote:
I'vejust reviewed the notes I saved abut not needing to put asterisks
on-either side of chapter titles, but what if the book has many blank
lines (I think it looks like about 4 after the chapter title before the
text? It seems to me like a change of topic, so I'm assuming asterisks
would be appropriate here. Am I right?
Cindy
