I recently heard an interview* with Parks and Rec co-creator Michael Schur (also a writer for The Office, creator of The Good Place, and co-creator of Brooklyn Nine Nine) where he talks about the list of ideas-in-waiting he keeps on set for those moments when a show runs short or a scene needs a quick drop-in joke. He calls this list his “Candy Bag.” *Note: the mention is at the 47:30 mark.

I think this is brilliant, because A) Who doesn’t love candy? and B) It’s a great way to reframe all those random snippets writers have floating around. It might be a scene or infodump that was cut for space, or a joke that wasn’t working in its current context. Now, instead of feeling bad about deleting scenes or “killing your darlings,” you can simply think of it as adding to your Candy Bag.

So, in the spirit of Parks and Rec, I present to you my own Candy Bag for this blog, culled from three years of various notebooks, journals and sticky notes. (Unexpected benefit, my desk is now much cleaner!):

• Paralyzed by information

• DIY MFA/Learning how to write on the cheap

• I was #todayyearsold when…

• TBT: Best/Worst/Weirdest jobs I’ve ever had

• Top 5 Jobs (ala High Fidelity)

• “It’s open seating at the low bar”

• Two Truths and a Lie

• TBT: Celebrity birthdays

• The life of a defluencer

• Nightmares I had while querying

• Ode to the Sticky Note

• Organizing my writing desk

• Things I need to do, but am pretending I don’t -or- Why “saving” is not the same as reading/learning/doing

• Casting movie versions of my books

• Arriving fashionably late to a career

• What kind of writer am I?

• Happyish Ever After

• Nanowrimo FOMO

• Day in the life

• TBT: Movies of the 80s

• Hallmark movie reviews

What do you think? Would a Candy Bag help you in your writing? Which ‘piece’ of candy would you most like to see in a future newsletter? Drop me a line and let me know!