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Soaps that seem hard to write for


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I wouldn't say that ATWT was difficult to write for, but I definitely agree with the assessment that after Marland died, there didn't seem any great writers after--I don't know why but even when there were good storylines in the decade after, the best ones lacked complexity that ATWT used to be known for. And those various story threads, that at first seemed unconnected, but would eventually weave together to create a fuller, richer story...ATWT couldn't find that again.

I once asked the question of whether the Writing Staff at Soaps plotted out storylines on a big whiteboard and specifically writing out dramatic/character arcs and structure. Some type of blueprint so that, in case of anything, everyone knows the direction in which each and every character is meant to 'go'. I just got the feeling that after Marland died, for example, the writers left to write had no idea where some characters were going nor where they were meant to 'end up' dramatically.

I also agree that good writing should've been possible throughout the years but great writers seemed in short supply-- at least the ones that wanted to write for Daytime television. I know that ABC Daytime had a program but it was mainly for Production, with an emphasis on Production Assistants and Associate Producers, with a very light footprint in terms of Writing. CBS didn't have anything that I could see beyond a few internships.

I could never understand why there wasn't more substantive outreach to Writing Programs. In the mid 00s, I graduated from a Writing Program (I won't mention which one) and during that time I saw solicitations and announcements to submit work in consideration of some Theaters/Play Groups/Festivals, for Short/Indie Films, TV programs (mainly for Children's TV shows like Nick, which I had no interest in) and once I even got a solicitation to write a script for a Porn film (I kid you not). I never got any announcements from a Daytime Soap.

Perhaps if these shows could've lured some talent fresh out of Writing/Film schools to apprentice with the greats of the genre, inside of keeping it such an insular small group, there might have been a better chance of that continuity of good, compelling storytelling. And each subsequent generation may have continued to bring contemporary issues to the fore instead of the re-tread and re-hash of content we have now (rapemances, numerous back from the deads and Baby Paternity to get Married storylines).

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I'd actually say OLTL has this more than any other soap. GH had three big eras - the Jessie and Steve years, the Monty years, Guza years. OLTL had very different styles and tones with Agnes Nixon's run, then the Gordon Russell era, then Rauch, then Gottlieb/Malone. There are a few people who loved the JFP era. And of course Nellie and Jamey and friends would likely say Ron Carlivati was the best OLTL writer (or soap writer) of all time.

Difficult soaps?

Soaps with no core identity, which would mostly mean AW (which got rid of much of its core family and became about strong friendships and a sea of characters who were not "good" or "bad"), and GL (which also got rid of its core family and never seemed to find what it was going to be after that, aside from some of the early 90s).

I think ATWT was also a difficult soap to write, because of the very strong moral focus and the focus on family, history, and continuity. You had to LOVE soaps to write for ATWT. Sadly, few did after Marland.

Given what a mess Y&R has been since the mid-90s, aside from a year or two of Kay Alden, I think we can add this too. I'd actually say the show is backbreaking to write, especially since they have so many old faded relics they can't write for, but also don't want to write out, and they have struggled heavily in making new characters who can fit the bill. And the business structure of Y&R (Newman, Jabot, etc.) that Bill Bell and Kay Alden built up has gone to hell in the last decade.

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I think it would be hard to write for ANY soap. First just the sheer volume of writing that's required and the condensed time frame in which you have to write it. Second, the shows on the air now all have a lengthy history with intertwined characters and dedicated fanbases who know the characters inside and out and won't hesitate to complain if they feel that you're writing their favorites out of character.

I write a lot of fiction - some fanficition and some original - and writing soap fanfiction is hard to do and do well if you want to make the most of the entire canvas at any given time period. I usually end up just using a few characters because I feel like it's too much work to utilize everyone and do justice to who the characters are. Well, that, and some characters I just don't like...

I think for me personally, any show other than AMC would be hard because I'm not a regular viewer of any that are currently on the air now. I watched a bit of Days and Y&R back in the early to mid 90s, and I've seen bits and pieces of OLTL, GH and B&B, but I don't know the shows inside and out, which is what I think is needed for a good writer.

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I think some soaps are almost writer-proof. B&B is one. Brad Bell is a lousy hack and yet the show has basically been unscathed for years, although it did grow in ratings once he got some better talent and stopped his offensive social issue stories.

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I think the shows too, that veer the most heavily toward camp would be far easier to write than shows that appear more grounded in reality. There are less rules and there is an almost anything goes, no holes barred ethos. Whereas in a soap more grounded in reality, if you breach the rules of that universe it will appear bizarre and most like can't be executed well. In the end it will just look like hack-work more than anything.

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I don't think ATWT was any more "moral" than any other soap. "The Mob" becoming it's core focus never would have flown, but it's not like there was any less adultery, lying, and paternity puzzles going on.

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Interesting theory. I guess I can see that, but I think a lot depends on the writer too. I don't know that I could write a story with demonic possessions or witchcraft or talking dolls and have it really work within a soap opera. Perhaps that's my own weakness as a writer. I'm one of those people who looks at a story that required enormous suspension of disbelief, like Erica's un-abortion, and thinks, "Okay, what are the different ways I could tell a story about Erica having a son that would make a lot more sense than this?"

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Not to get Off Topic but I still think it would have been better if they stated that after Erica divorced Tom she went on the rebound with Jeff and she really didn't gain weight because of Depression but because she was pregnant and her going to the fat farm was really a guise for leaving town to give birth. Then they could have stated the reason why Jeff and Christina divorced is because she found out about the affair. Maybe it isn't too late?

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I think shows mentioned, like GL, AW, among others *became* hard to write for because those in charge were dead set on making them a different show than what they already were. So like said, their identities were lost and each regime tried to make it something else and it never fit or only worked for a small period of time.

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I think Capitol would have been a much more dynamic show if they had stuck to more creative behind the politics family drama storylines opposed to the political intrigue stories that often came across as silly or forced. Instead of espionage and traitors and the like, I think an Elizabeth Edwards-type story would have been more powerful. Paula Denning faking agorophobia was a wonderfully innovative story, imo, offering a layered look at a politician's home life. Intead of all of those '80s tropes of money and power, had they focused more on the universal dysfunctionality of the American family regardless of social or political station, I think Capitol could have delivered more gripping story. Something as simple as giving Myrna a battle with breast or ovarian cancer that would have raised the stakes of Sam's infidelity and was perhaps used as a pity pawn for Trey's political career with Myrna's consent and eye for PR could have been a gripping character study on people who are humans first, their job

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I think that was part of what ATWT was built on - strong core family values, forgiveness, trust, love, etc. It was one of the things that Marland seemed to go back to, when he and whoever else brought back more of the Hughes family. There was adultery, and lying, but not usually presented in the same way. For instance, you had Lucinda, who was constantly punished for her scheming, instead of just being a camp figure like what other soaps started doing around that time.

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