I've been writing fiction for almost 15 years of my 25-year life. Among that writing includes a soap opera that I've been penning since around '95 or '96. I shared some sample episodes of that soap on this message board a few years ago, but I've only just begun my fifth season last week -- I write lots of fiction, along with six other series, so sometimes it takes years between seasons for me to get back to it.

Anyway, as I ponder my first four seasons and consider storylines for this season and beyond, I thought it would be interesting to share some of the lessons I've learned as a show-runner. Of course it hardly compares to the realities of writing an actual serial with concerns of casting, budget, ratings, meddling bosses, and so on, but as a little microcosm of soap writing, I thought I would share some of the lessons I've learned through the years.

History is EVERYTHING - This is true not only of my soap opera but of all my series -- comedy, science fiction, mystery, action. History is the foundation on which you build. More than just the foundation -- it informs the design of the structure. When I consider where my characters have been and what they've done, it becomes almost obvious how they will behave in their current storylines. It provides opportunities for new plot and character developments. It's the lifeblood of long-term storytelling. It's an inviolable commandment.

What soap is doing it right?
Y&R - The show's best storyline, the Philip resurrected mystery, has grown out of the pasts of each of its characters. The Katherine/Jill maternity storyline influences how those characters behave, and Nina's dedication to learning the truth is rooted in how much history she has with the show, its past storylines, and the other characters on the canvas.

What show needs to learn a thing or two?
B&B - When Nick marries Bridget for the third time, it suggests that the writer has no concept of where these characters have been. Ditto Brooke and Thorne. This is not a show influenced by history. It's a show that every few months or so resets the clock and crosses its fingers that we've forgotten everything that came before.

Never take your plots too seriously - Soaps are outlandish. That's the fun of it. Baby switches, kidnappings, paternity reveals, resurrections -- ridiculous. Enjoy!

What show is doing it right?
OLTL - One of Ron Carlivati's best contributions has been to inject a little fun into soaps: the Paris, Texas storyline with its colorful supporting characters, the occasional appearances of David Vickers, the entertaining fallout from the reading of Asa's will. Especially when he first took the reins, this was a show that had fun with itself.

What show needs to learn a thing or two?
GH - I think Bob Guza is the only person who doesn't realize that his ponderous mob storylines are completely preposterous.

ALWAYS take your characters seriously - No matter what storylines they're involved in, they should behave consistently. And if they change, they should evolve over time, not turn on a dime. I made this mistake with a dedicated FBI agent character I introduced, then turned into a bitch apropos of nothing, then turned into a heroine again apropos of nothing. The character has collapsed like a souffle, and now I'm writing her out because I don't know who she is and there's nothing more I can do with her. Also, characters should be intelligent. I would rather my characters be smarter than my storylines than for them to be made dumb to service the plot.

What shows need to learn a thing or two?
AMC, OLTL - With all its recasts and newbies, I don't recognize anyone on the AMC canvas anymore, even the characters with a lot of history (Jake, Liza). And OLTL's cardinal sin with the Stacy Fiasco is the fact that it forced Rex and Gigi to be complete morons, which makes the audience care nothing about them.

Romance ISN'T everything - This may be a surprising conclusion for me to have reached, and I don't expect everyone to agree. Romance is an important part of soaps, but it need not be the focus all the time. Nothing makes me angrier than a soap that feels the need to pair its female characters with men just for the sake of pairing them (Y&R's Lily, GL's Marina), or a soap that stops writing for characters as soon as they enter a happy, committed relationships (AMC's Stuart and Marian have been AWOL since the Pleistocene Era before Stuart was offed, and OLTL's Marcie and Michael are now gone). In real life, people go through periods of being single or happily married, yet -- gasp! -- still lead interesting lives. My soap has a few long-term couples, and several other romantic entanglements, but I have never felt the need to build my series around love stories.

What show needs to learn a thing or two?
B&B - Nick and Katie. Nick and Brooke. Nick and Bridget. Owen and Bridget. Owen and Jackie. Ridge and Brooke. Ridge and Taylor. Rick and Steffy. Good God, the merry-go-round is endless, but all I want to know is where the hell Felicia is. On a show that boasts far too few male characters, it's time to get off the romantic roller coaster for a while and focus on business, family, and other things that make the world go round.

S*** happens - My fourth season was an unholy mess of bad plotting. I had an interesting idea to reveal that three characters on the canvas were actually siblings, but by the end of a very violent and incoherent storyline, it reached a denouement that makes the unabortion look like "Hamlet." Four words: Black market sperm bank. The lesson: roll with the punches. Sometimes it's a good idea to re-rewrite history to rectify an error, which can open up new storytelling avenues (Y&R undoing Cane and resurrecting Philip), sometimes you just have to move on rather than do backflips to fix it (OLTL's Santis). I'm taking advantage of my clusterf*ck of a storyline and using the new family connections to develop my characters. Make the best of a bad situation.

What shows have done it right?
OLTL, Y&R - Ron Carlivati took Dena Higley's endless Spencer Truman saga and grew out of that amazing storylines for Marcie and Michael, Lindsay, Todd, and Viki. Then he salvaged his own nauseating rapemance into a payoff that (almost) made it seem worth it. And Y&R took Lynn Marie Latham's horribly rushed Victor/Sabrina romance and unconvincing Nikki/David Chow coupling and turned it into excellent storylines whose effects are still being felt today (Adam gaslighting Ashley with Sabrina's "ghost").

What show needs to learn a thing or two?
AMC - Megan McTavish has been gone for a long time, along with her poison pancakes and unaborted fetuses. If the show sucks now, it's because it's intent on sucking.

Manage your canvas - If a character isn't working, or no longer has connections on the canvas, it may be time for them to go. You need to make room to tell stories about characters who are meaningfully connected to the canvas. I've got too many characters on my soap. I'm writing out the FBI agent. And another character I had planned on keeping but now realize no longer has a strong purpose; her upcoming storyline gives me a perfect out and I'm going to take it, leaving room for the possibility of a return.

What show needs to learn a thing or two?
AMC - And Aidan is still on this show because ...?


***************
I hope you'll indulge me the above manifesto. I believe Douglas Marland has written a gospel of soap writing, and his is certainly more important than mine. But I'm fairly sure many of us here would be better head writers for the soaps than the ones currently working there. (And if I remmember correctly, many of us write soaps of our own.) So I thought I'd share my limited insight with the world.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 742,

This was a very fun and insightful read 742!

Hopefully the pll who are not doing the right things by storytelling (all of the soaps have their troubles, but the main ones I can call out we all be in an agreement, Brad Bell, Jean Passthesalami, Chuck Pratt, & Bob Guza!), will read this or dust up the lat Doug Marland's bible and get it together.