If you are writing a chapter of scenes that alternate between present and past, or different countries, how do you juxtapose them? SOmetimes a series of *** to show the end of one scene or a change of font could help, but I am a little lost about how to present it for the reader?
I agree with Victoria. If you switch characters mid-chapter just leave a double line space and begin the new paragraph without an indent.
Personally I'd avoid switching timelines within a chapter - that gets very confusing. Changes between chapters are easily solved using headings, as Adrian suggests.
You'd probably get away with switching location but whether you then need a chapter sub-heading to make the change clear depends on how well you've established the character at that location.
The overriding consideration is to ensure your reader's not confused :)
I suggest you read a copy of Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris. She brilliantly blends the past and the present. I doubt there are many authors who are better at signposting than Joanne Harris. The chapter titles in Blackberry Wine clearly indicate each of the various time periods to the reader.
I hope that helps.
Good luck.
I'm not a fan of the asterix line, but I'm not sure it's an author decision. Present it any way you want and the publishing house will impose their house style during the editing process.
But personally, I just leave a line gap when I'm jumping characters and continents. Actually, that happens to be why my chapters were so long - each destination is a chapter. A lot of my line breaks will now become chapter breaks.