Thread by @JulieFalatko

Mary asked me how Snappsy was formatted! Let me show you. @Daizylublue @gschoeffield5 @AmyMMiller1 #PBChat (thread)

https://twitter.com/Daizylublue/status/1157716193215680513

In all the early manuscripts -- my first drafts, the draft that got an agent, the draft that got a book deal -- Snappsy's speech was not in bubbles, but in dialog tags, like this.

And this. (Note: this is the one and only art note in the manuscript.)

But then @TM_Illustration did some sketches, and he wanted to do speech bubbles, and we all agreed, so then the text changed to this.

And this. (If you've read the book, you know the text changed from here too. I held on to "alarmingly ferocious" for as long as I could, but eventually it didn't work anymore.)

If I know a book is going to be speech bubbles from the beginning, I set it up like this (which is the near-final text of NO BORING STORIES).

(The first version of NO BORING STORIES was actually this book about talking furniture, but that is a tale for another day.)

Mary's original question, though, was specifically about speech bubbles when the same character talks twice on one page. I would either put all the character's speech in one paragraph and let the illustrator break it up, or make it two paragraphs, or divide it with an art note.

So, example 1, all one paragraph:

Blarence: I do believe I will go to the park today and buy an ice cream cone. Or maybe not.

Example 2, two paragraphs:

Blarence: I do believe I will go to the park today and buy an ice cream cone.
Or maybe not.

Example 3, art note (use only if you need that note in there for important plot purposes):

Blarence: I do believe I will go to the park today and buy an ice cream cone.
[illo: Blarence looks outside and sees Binky carrying 15 ice cream cones]
Or maybe not.

I hope that answers your questions about formatting for speech bubbles in picture books. Let me know if you have more questions! #PBChat