why do some pages of novels have three stars at the bottom?

Question

a lot of books have random pages with three stars at the bottom... somebody once said that this means the page is important... what's the deal

Answer 1

It designates a break from what was being talked about.

Answer 2

It represents a white space break, like a mini-chapter break which some writers use more often than others. Some books will have asterisks (*) whenever they break; others will only use them when the break comes at the bottom of a page and might be easy to overlook as just part of the margin. Usually the decision, though, is the publisher's, much like the font or margin size.

Answer 3

The stars designate a break in the page. That just means that it's almost like a different scene, with a diferent topic. I don't think it's there to mark the most important pages though.

Answer 4

All of the responses that say that it's a scene break are right, the three asterisks are just a typgraphical reference that the break is coming at the bottom of the page since it's more economically feasable for typographers to NOT go around changing type-faces and spacing just to keep such breaks at a uniform point on whatver pages they'd appear on...ultimately it saves paper.

Answer 5

It's a break between sections. Normally they don't use the stars because the break is obvious between two lines, but at a page break, the intended space is not obvious.

Answer 6

It means there is an extra explanation of some word in the page which has another mark.

Answer 7

It simply means the story is going to another scene, place, or skipping ahead in time.

Answer 8

It's just to indicate a section break.

Answer 9

to let you know that they are skipping to a different scene i think.

Answer 10

I don't know, I've never seen them, but then again i don't read novels.