All: Story arcs on soaps

[leevo64]

I have always been interested in creative writing, and I have read lots of books and websites on it. I'm not such a good writer, but my DREAM job would to be head writer of a soap (granted, I'm going to school for theatre studies, but that's another story). Watching soaps lately, I realized something - how often do shows follow through with story? Look at it this way. On GH, a ruthless, evil man takes Metro Court hostage, blows the place up, and yet a year later, is hanging out with the people he nearly killed. I guess what I am getting at is: do writers plan stories with a beginning, middle and end on soaps, or do they write on the fly, altering things as new ideas pop into their heads? GH is a good example, in my opinion, because in all my years of watching the show (since 1993, when I was five years old!) there has only been one story that has actually had an actual "ending." Get ready to groan and roll your eyes: it was endgame. Thanks to September 11th, Megan McTavish was forced to write a quick ending to what was originally supposed to be a bio-terror story with the Cassadines. Though they were the -worst- episodes in the history of GH, they neatly wrapped up the story and let all the characters move on to new things. On the other side of things, I have noticed that All My Children, at least a few years ago, seemed to be plotted with a beginning, middle and end. Take Bianca's rape. She was brutally raped by Michael Cambias, who was promptly murdered, setting the stage for a huge trial that culminated in Bianca being revealed as his murderer. Of course, I read in an interview with Megan McTavish that in the case of the Greg Madden murder, they killed him without a culprit. Same with GH's Text Message Killer. Diego was not set to return from the start, they didn't have a killer in the beginning. On the other hand, One Life to Live recently wowed me with the Paris, TX story. That story began with Viki finding a new home in Texas and at the diner, Marcie eventually ending up there, and the two ultimately crossing paths in a huge climax that involved the entire cast. It was obvious from the start that the story was planned from the beginning.

So, what do you think? Do soap writers usually write entire story arcs, or do they write on the fly? I'm interested to hear what everyone has to say.

[rhythmchyc]

Actually, if you think about it, the Paris, TX story began with Margaret Cochran ish. Cause Marcie wouldn't be in TX in the first place if Tommy wasn't even born.

From what I know about some television shows, the majority of writers don't know what's going to happen at the end. But I think you can tell if they do because they'll include clues throughout each episode hinting at the conclusion. Perfect example is "Buffy" Season 2 vs. "Buffy" Season 5, the latter clearly included hints throughout the season that indicated the finale.

I've also seen in several interviews that Shonda Rhimes knows exactly how "Grey's Anatomy" is going to end. So, I guess it depends. I've also read that back in the day, writers would write lengthy storylines that last years but that's not necessarily the case anymore. And how could it be if this year alone, they get shuffled in and out of these companies faster than you can say "SORAS'd."

As for your question, I could lie and be like, "Yeah, so-and-so did this for this storyline on this date" but, well, I'd be lying 'cause I don't know LOL. But I'm sure there are dozens of people around here who do.

[JackPeyton]

They did have a killer from the start - backed out and had to come up with something.

[MichaelGL]

Telling from the what we're seeing on GL, they people over there don't know heads or tails what they're doing.

One story arc that has always intregued me concerning GL was the "Who Killed Phillip?" story. DK made Alan the killer, but sometimes I wonder if he had that planned out from the start or did he throw darts to determine who would be the killer?

[Ryan]

Yup. Johnny was originally to be the killer.

The Metrocourt story was originally supposed to be wrapped up, but they liked Sebastian so much they decided to keep him on.

[rhythmchyc]

A storyline I thought Y&R would pursue, because it was handled very delicately and developed so well was Colleen's weight insecurities. I think that would've been a great topic if (of course) Adrienne was still on but also would have been great if explored further.

[tanyia2]

The killer was supposed to be a woman but David decided to change the story and made Alan the shooter.

[leevo64]

I just don't agree with changing a story once it's set in motion. Little beats get lost in the shuffle, but the audience remembers them and then it's a letdown to see that something's not going to be explained or answered. That happened on Desperate Housewives with Orson and the woman from the mental hospital - they changed the story and she vanished.

[applcin]

I think it's a combination of the two. I think, for the most part, they have stories planned out with an idea of how they will end. But then I believe the unexpected comes into play, which can be the popularity/unpopularity of an actor, character or couple, real-life pregnancy, illness, injury or death, etc.

I always wondered when Luke & Laura came back to GH in the early 90s if the idea was to continue letting them lead dangerous, on-the-edge lives, have more adventure-type stories, etc. Then Genie got pregnant. Laura became Mother Earth. I wondered if that was the intent all along--to domesticate Laura, keep Luke edgy and divorce the pair--or if Genie's pregnancy made them go the "Laura can't be running around anymore" route.

I wondered what different stories AW might have told had Douglass Watson (and, thereby, Mac Cory) lived til its end.

Clint Ritchie's tractor accident I believe caused OLTL to amplify the Viki/Sloan relationship since Clint Buchanan wasn't around for some time. Phil Carey's time off during his cancer treatment affected the Spencer Truman story.

Real-life pregnancies often end up with the characters getting pregnant (would GH have written a pregnancy for Skye had RC not gotten pregnant?) or becoming sick/bedridden (ex: Kayla being poisoned by Harper Deveraux on DOOL and bedridden while MBE was pregnant).

And we don't know how much was planned out beforehand and then subjected to last minute rewrites or stuff that got deleted that ended up changing the course of a story from that point on.

[DevotedToAMC]

And they came up with crap

[DaytimeFan]

Y&R has almost always had the 'beginning, middle and end' form to their story arcs. Additionally, Kay Alden noted that the storylines were always written in a staggered way so that as one was concluding another was picking up steam and another was just getting started. Y&R was always written way ahead of itself. Plus they always wrote their storylines to conclude during a Sweeps period. LML didn't stick to that formula and we all saw how well THAT turned out.

Y&R has also excelled at Umbrella story arcs, a writing style that every soap used to use. AW, DAYS, AMC especially were big on umbrella storylines and it seems in the last decade that style of storytelling has fallen out of vogue (along with the ratings).

B&B, because of how Brad writers it and the size of the cast, is one big Umbrella story arc and I like it. He is well known to change a storyline very rapidly, he seems to write by the seat of his pants. Again, not a necessarily bad thing since he can often shaft a storyline that isn't working, but it also leads to inconsistency.