It's become a tradition here on the blog for me to post a candy-inspired post the week of Halloween.
In past years, I've talked about viewing the editing process like the filling in a Kit-Kat bar or the importance of finding your audience in relation to the annual love-hate debate over candy corn. And in 2024, we're continuing this trend in a way that pays homage to a trend that was fairly popular on social media this year: the candy salad.
If the algorithm didn't send at least one of these clips your way, let me explain. The candy salad trend is something of a group event, in which each participant introduces themselves and what kind of candy they've brought before dumping it into a bowl.
The videos can admittedly be a little cringe, but in my case that tends to be less about the vibe of the group filming the video and more about the flavor combinations that are bound to come out of similar-looking but vastly different-tasting candies like fruity Skittles and chocolate M&Ms being mixed around, or the malic acid coating a Sour Patch Kid getting all over a Milky Way. Plus the different textures of a chewy gummy bear and a hard Lemonhead just feels like it's asking for trouble. Honestly speaking, if I were to take part in a candy salad, I'd eat it the same way I'd eat Chex Mix as a kid: pick out the cheese-dusted bits and the white bread pieces and throw out the rest.
Nevertheless, a writing-themed candy salad does sound interesting, even if I know it's something I would only enjoy eating by picking apart and more or less missing the point of a salad entirely...
So, on that note, hey there! I'm Avril and this is what I'd put in a writing-themed candy salad.
The Candy Salad Bowl
Since it seems standard in candy salad videos for whoever brought the bowl for the mix to make that fact known to anyone watching, I figure ought to start there.
For a writing-themed candy salad, there are a multitude of suitable vessels to choose from.
My first instinct was to use one of those boxes that look like a hollowed-out book. For one thing, I genuinely love them, and I also think they would fit the vibe rather well. Books? Writers? Obvious choice.
But I also had the random thought of an inkwell. And I know what you're thinking. Inkwells are small. And you're right. They are. Since this is all theoretical anyhow, I'm going to assume it's possible to find a vase or similar vessel that looks like an inkwell or, since budgetary concerns are not a factor in this imagined scenario, why not get one custom-made?
In any case, a writerly candy salad would need a writerly container of some sort. I'm really leaning towards the hollow book idea, but I think it'd just be cool to have an inkwell-eqsue jar—even if the neck would potentially be too small to reach in and grab the goods inside. Based on what I've seen, candy salads aren't always about what tastes good together, but what looks aesthetically pleasing.
Now that the candy salad has a place to go, it's time to determine what goes in it.
Kit-Kats
In what was the first in this series of candy-themed posts at Halloween time, I explored some of the similarities between my editing style and how Kit-Kat bars are manufactured. For anyone who hasn't checked out that post yet (which you can find here), the filling spread between the wafers of Kit-Kat bars is made from ground-up Kit-Kat bars that didn't pass inspection.
Writers often have to make tough calls in the editing phase. This can be as substantial as the deletion of an entire scene or cutting a character altogether because they don't add anything significant to the story, or it could be on a much smaller scale like a passage or line of dialogue you absolutely love but need to remove for clarity or word count purposes. Murdering your darlings can be a gut-wrenching business, so a lot of writers will create what's known as a Graveyard Doc where they can copy-paste those cut bits so they're not permanently gone. You may even find that you can rework some of those bits for a future chapter or even a brand-new story, salvaging them in an unexpected way.
As is the case with imperfect Kit-Kat bars, the Graveyard Doc gives writers a way to reuse what didn't quite work and give it a new purpose later on.
So Kit-Kat bars seem like an obvious choice for a writing-themed candy salad.
Chewing Gum
I realize this plays directly into what I said about having too many different competing textures in a candy salad not being appealing to me, but this addition has a purpose.
When state testing rolled around every March, my teachers often went out of their way to support us where possible even amid strict regulations in place, and more than one would bend a school-wide rule by passing around a plastic tub of chewing gum before each day's exam commenced. There were conditions accompanying this treat, naturally, such as not blowing and snapping bubbles with it and it needing to be rolled back up in the wrapper and discarded after (ie, not left on the floor or stuck under your desk), but there were also scientifically proven reasons backing it.
Studies have shown that chewing gum improves concentration and cognitive function, theorized to be because it increases blood flow to the brain, which in turn improves memory recall.
Living in a world of distractions can make it hard to focus. If chewing gum can offer even the slightest boost, it's worth tossing into this candy salad.
(And if you have braces or worries about chewing gum for any other reason, I'd also add my teachers' typical test time alternative of jawbreakers).
Matte Blue Scooby-Doo Fruit Snacks
Oddly specific, I hear you say. And you aren't wrong.
This is very much an instance of "if you know, you know" but if you don't know, allow me to explain.
Back in the day, Betty Crocker's lineup of fruit snacks was an elementary school cafeteria staple, and there was just something special about the Scooby-Doo pack—in particular, the blue ones shaped like the Great Dane himself. They were iconic, right up there with Cosmic Brownies and Dunk-A-Roos. But then, for some reason and without warning, the Scooby-Doo fruit snacks were changed. Even though this seems to have been done in favor of using more natural ingredients in the recipe, the "new and improved" ones—a term I am using with the utmost sarcasm here—were translucent as opposed to the opaque ones we all knew and loved and definitely didn't taste the same.
Ever since, there seems to be a collective longing for the Matte Blue Scooby-Doo fruit snack. And, in a way, the Matte Blue Scooby-Doo fruit snack has become a symbol of nostalgia and missing what was.
Though not true for every writer, I think quite a few of us draw writing inspiration from our past. Our stories can give us an outlet to make peace with our regrets and experiences or give ourselves answers to all of the what-ifs, and they give us a chance to relive the good parts, too. As for readers, a work of fiction can feel all the more impactful when we feel a connection to it. Among the strongest and deepest are the ones rooted in nostalgia.
And to me, no candy encapsulates this feeling of nostalgia quite like the Matte Blue Scooby-Doo fruit snack, so into the writerly candy salad it goes.
Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans
If there is one beverage writers are commonly associated with, it's coffee. How often do we see writers depicted in media as coming home from their 9-5, pouring themselves a cup of joe, and writing late into the night?
I mean, it's not exactly wrong...
Writers are also known for frequenting coffee shops, whether it's an independent location or a chain like Starbucks. It's just kind of the vibe.
There are plenty of coffee-flavored candies in the world, but for this candy salad, I figure we need to go straight to the source for a dash of caffeine and, typically, 10-20 chocolate-covered espresso beans contain about the same amount of caffeine as the standard cup of coffee.
While I'd personally lean towards dark chocolate for my espresso beans, any sort will do just fine.
To be honest, I don't know if chocolate-covered espresso beans even count as candy, but they're going in the salad regardless.
Brach's Swirly Twirly Gum Drops
Even though this post went live a few days before Halloween, as the retail industry will tell you, it's never too early to start thinking about the holiday season.
For the 2023 Christmas season, Brach's released Swirly Twirly Gum Drops to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Elf, and it was very much love at first taste for me.
This is in part because Swirly Twirly Gum Drops were the first really sweet thing that I could taste after losing my sense of taste and smell to Covid in November 2022 (something I still deal with, but thankfully to a significantly lesser extent now), but the texture is also great. They're chewy without sticking to your teeth, and the sugar coating doesn't scratch up the roof of your mouth the way Sour Patch Kids are known to do. I just couldn't get enough.
Once December 26th rolled around, I scoured the clearance shelves at every Cumberland Farms and Walgreens in my area, and would sometimes make a detour if we passed one of these stores on a road trip just to check their Swirly Twirly Gum Drop inventory. Sure I got some looks coming up to the checkout with a dozen mini bags in my arms but as somebody who finally found something she could actually taste after over a year of not being able to taste anything apart from peanut butter and cheese—and not knowing if they would ever be made again as they were a limited edition produced for a specific occasion—I quickly learned to ignore whatever tendrils of embarrassment crept up as I built up what became known as the Swirly Twirly Surplus in the pantry.
All of this is to say that when you fall head over heels for something as a writer, chase it ardently. No matter if it's a specific trope or theme or even the genre you write in, don't let others yuck in your yum (is that something people even say anymore?).
Not everyone is going to get it, and that is okay. Sometimes, writing is a matter of giving yourself permission to explore and embrace what excites you.
And it helps to have loved ones who support even your stranger interests like my mother who not only aided in the hunt for Swirly Twirly Gum Drops but had her own stash in the works a birthday gift for me months later.
The candy salad trend is a curious one. While I can't say it's something that would necessarily appeal to my taste buds (Covid symptoms aside), I do find it interesting to see what contributors bring to the table—or bowl, in this case.
As far as a writing-themed candy salad goes, I'd like to think the symbolism and meaning behind each of the inclusions from this post embodies a certain element important for any writer to have.
What would you put in a writing-themed candy salad? Let me know in the comments below!
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