The Crucial Importance of "Candy Bar" Scenes in Your Writing

I recently read through a long thread of comments from a random group of authors talking about their writing process during NaNoWrMo (National Novel Writing Month).  Many of them were lamenting about the same problem, how they had to "slog" or struggle through much of their story to reach those delicious candy bar scenes.

What is a so-called candy bar scene?  It's not a scene that involves a Snickers or a Kit-Kat, if that's what you're thinking.  It's a scene that "tastes" so good to you, the author, that you just can't wait to reach that part of the story so you get it all written down.  It's a juicy scene that you have been looking forward to sharing with readers perhaps ever since you had the idea for the book.

Well, I have some advice for you new writers out there.  EVERY SCENE in your book, from Page 1 to the very end of the story, should be a candy bar scene. 

Now, before you raise your hands defensively and say, "No, Mike, that's just not possible—there are great scenes in every book but there has to be some filler, too, all books have it..."

No, all books don't have it.  I can open up any of my all-time favorite novels (I'm not going to name them) and turn to ANY page in the story and—voila—I'm smack in the middle in a candy bar scene!  Each and every scene is scrumptious and engaging.  There are no plodding, lackluster, or filler scenes.  This even includes flashbacks and simple scenes that at first glance do not even appear to advance the plot.

If you want to write a truly great book, you must do likewise.  During your writing process, you must, with great care and discipline, eliminate every non-candy bar scene from your story, whether that means cutting the scene out (often the case) or reworking the scene (even more often the case).  If it's the former, simply muster up your courage and delete that scene.  If it's the latter, put on your creative thinking cap and dig deeper.  Ask yourself:  why am I not as excited about the scene as I need to be in order to make this into a wonderful book?  Trust me.  If you are not in Candy Bar Mode when you're writing a scene, the reader won't be, either.  Your story will drag along at this point, and your reader will have exactly the same feeling of wanting to get past this part and move on to something more interesting as you do.

So, how can you jazz up humdrum scene so that you're just as fired up about writing it as every other scene in the book?

Unfortunately, there is no simple formula for solving this problem—it's a creative one.  But I can share a quick example from one of my books to show you how I do it.  In Lust, Money & Murder, there is a section of the story where my hero, Elaine Brogan, graduates from a conservative, all-girls high school and then wins a scholarship to a very liberal, coed college.  When she enters the college as a freshman, she is not only shy and self-conscious around boys, she's a virgin.  All this makes her feel like a misfit, especially around her sexy, open-minded roommate. 

In these pages of the story I decided to summarize, rather than dramatize, how she lost her virginity in a well planned-out way.  It was a few paragraphs long and rather boring to write.  I was clearly not in Candy Bar Mode.  But I went on writing the rest of the story, knowing I would fix it, somehow, on the second draft.

On the next read-through, it became even more obvious that I wasn't nearly as enthused as I should have been when writing that part of the story—the narrative came across flat.  I thought something needed to be there but I wasn't sure why.  I first simply decided to cut it, but when I studied the scenes that preceded and followed it, I realized that cutting it would leave a gap.  Many readers would wonder how Elaine made this difficult transition from a conservative, all-girl environment to the liberal, coed one.

I put on my thinking cap and started brainstorming.  I began to imagine, in great detail, how Elaine would lose her virginity...and I realized that this could be funny.  Poor Elaine feels like a social misfit and wants to escape this feeling as soon as possible.   She's also very pragmatic, a problem-solver.   This was a chance to show more of her character, too.  I decided that she would go out and hunt down three different suitable-seeming guys, and the first two would be disasters but the third one would rise to the occasion, so to speak.  This triggered the analogy of Goldilocks and the Three Bears—the first guy would be too hot, the second guy would be too cold, and the third guy would be just right...or at least he would appear so at first.

Then I started creating these three characters, with the idea that the third and last one—Mr. Just Right (Almost)—would actually turn out to be a sports fanatic who was virtually "pickled in Viagra."  When he's on top of Elaine, going at it, he startles her by crying out "Go, Rodriguez, go!" At first she thinks he's speaking to his own manhood, but she when opens her eyes she sees that he's watching a basketball game on TV. 

By the time I had visualized these few scenes I couldn't wait to get in front of the computer and write them out.  They were funny and engaging to me.  I was clearly in Candy Bar Mode.  The three paragraphs were expanded to three pages.  It was a solid day's work, but well worth the effort.  One of the most frequent comments I receive about that book on the social networks is "Go, Rodriguez, go!" with a smiley face tagged on the end. 

So, if you want to write a great book, don't let yourself get away with any non-candy bar scenes.  Be merciless with yourself.  If you're not fully enthused about any part of your story—and I mean any part—go back and cut it or rework it until you are.

Now I think I'll go have a Snickers.

If you found this article useful, feel free to buy me a cup of coffee to go with that Snickers bar 😃  click here  - 

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Adventures in the Writing of Unplanned Sequels

Often, when I'm writing a story, if I have a feeling that I might want to write a sequel, and that readers might want one, too, I leave the ending somewhat open.  That is to say, I try to write an ending that resolves the main story conflict and ties up the loose ends, but at the same time leaves room for more adventures to take place with the same hero and perhaps some of the same characters.

When I wrote Lust, Money & Murder, however, I had no plans for a sequel, nor did I think that readers would want one.  Boy, was I ever wrong about that!  I was flabbergasted when the book first came out and I began to receive a steady stream of emails and tweets and Facebook posts from readers saying, "We want more Elaine and Nick!  When will more Lust, Money & Murder books be out?"

I think most of you already know that I highly  value the wants and needs of readers.  I did leave the ending of Lust, Money & Murder "slightly" open--if you've read the trilogy, you remember the Epilogue:  it says that even though Elaine Brogan did away with Giorgio Cattoretti, his body has never been found.  But the main reason I did that was to show how strong and resilient he was as a villain.  To use his own words, "The Cat always lands on his feet."

The problem is, the Epilogue also states that Elaine and Nick marry and have two kids together.  Which means that  in any sequel, Elaine Brogan, Special Agent in the Secret Service, is a wife and a mother.  This is a big change for a secret agent-type character.  Think about it.  What would happen to the famous Ian Fleming stories if our beloved "Bond, James Bond" were suddenly married?  And had a couple of kids and became a Daddy to boot?

I daresay that this new Agent 007 would be a drastically different character than the one we have grown accustomed to.

Despite this, dear reader, never fear:  I do believe I've found an effective solution to this problem, a solution that not only preserves the Elaine Brogan we know and love, but makes her even more interesting and three-dimensional.  I wouldn't think of spoiling a potential new book for you, but here's a hint: just because Elaine and Nick got married doesn't necessarily mean they're happily married, does it?  You know as well as I do that a heady new love affair is one thing, but when "the bloom is off the rose," it can be quite another.

Stay tuned!