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Section without a title

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joruib

Section without a title

Hello,

I am writing a novel and, at least in the way I have been organizing it, I consider chapters contain scenes, which are sections, but which do not have a title:

= Chapter One

==
This is first scene

==
This is second scene

Is this possible to achieve in AsciiDoc?

Thanks in advance

mojavelinux

Re: Section without a title

Administrator

Section titles must be defined in the AsciiDoc source. However, they don't have to be displayed in the generated output. You can make this customization by using a custom template (see https://github.com/asciidoctor/asciidoctor-backends/blob/master/slim/html5/section.html.slim).

We often hide titles when creating HTML5 presentations. The convention we've used for this so far is to either set the section title to !

[source,asciidoc]

----

== !

section with no title

----

or use an option like hide-title:

[source,asciidoc]

----

[%hide-title]

== Scene

section with no title

----

Another option is to separate your scenes using thematic breaks (aka a horizontal rule). You'd probably need to use an extension to transform the document so you get discrete sections, but at least the source would be semantically accurate. Another approach is to use open blocks for your scenes.

[source,asciidoc]

----

= Chapter One

This is a scene

This is another scene

----

When you think about designing the semantics of your AsciiDoc, don't get stuck on how Asciidoctor generates output by default. Instead, figure out the best way to represent the information in AsciiDoc, then figure out how to customize the converter. You can always do that part later. Above all, the AsciiDoc should be semantic.

Cheers,

-Dan

On Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 5:26 AM, joruib [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hello,

I am writing a novel and, at least in the way I have been organizing it, I consider chapters contain scenes, which are sections, but which do not have a title:

= Chapter One

==
This is first scene

==
This is second scene

Is this possible to achieve in AsciiDoc?

Thanks in advance

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Dan Allen | @mojavelinux | http://google.com/profiles/dan.j.allen

joruib

Re: Section without a title

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I want to avoid thematic breaks (the horizontal rule in HTML, for example) because I feel that in novels, chapters are composed of scenes, not simple thematic breaks. Sometimes, you can shuffle scenes around, as units, improving the flow of the narrative, to me they are sections.

I could use as a title a brief description, which my backend can ignore. Currently, I am using ConTeXt and do not show the titles of the scenes in the body of the novel, but in certain configurations I generate a detailed table of contents which lists all of the scenes using these titles as brief descriptions which helps me improve the flow of the book.

I was planning to switch to Asciidoctor as my main writing tool and writing a backend which outputs ConTeXt code in my already established set of commands, as well as having the benefits that Asciidoc gives me (preview, HTML, PDF output...).

Again, thanks for your insight.

mojavelinux

Re: Section without a title

Administrator

On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 1:32 AM, joruib [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:

I feel that in novels, chapters are composed of scenes, not simple thematic breaks. Sometimes, you can shuffle scenes around, as units, improving the flow of the narrative, to me they are sections.

Pretty much exactly how I feel if I reflect on my own practices. +1

-Dan

Dan Allen | @mojavelinux | http://google.com/profiles/dan.j.allen

mojavelinux

Re: Section without a title

Administrator

In reply to this post by joruib

On Wed, Oct 28, 2015 at 1:32 AM, joruib [via Asciidoctor :: Discussion] <[hidden email]> wrote:

I was planning to switch to Asciidoctor as my main writing tool and writing a backend which outputs ConTeXt code in my already established set of commands, as well as having the benefits that Asciidoc gives me (preview, HTML, PDF output...).

\o/

Dan Allen | @mojavelinux | http://google.com/profiles/dan.j.allen