I never watched any soaps whatsoever, my mom did not either. I don't remember any relatives doing so, except my sister, who watched GL. I was into the game shows, Password, Jeopardy, etc. But one day, I was flipping channels after something ended, saw this blond guy with a patch over his eye, stopped to check it out. Then had to see what happened, tho it was a couple days later. Took me about 2 weeks to become "faithful viewer", lol.
And again, was changing channels when Days ended, and I have no idea how I started with GL, except I think it was when Reva Shayne blew into town like a hurricane. Got hooked there, too, made my sis very happy. She has passed away, & was glad it was still on then. Well, GL is gone, and I am still with Days, the good, the bad, the ugly, the absolutely unbearable at times. And I strongly suggest, to those who stop watching for short or long periods of time.....to at least turn your TV on to the show....mute it, don't watch, whatever. Just have the TV on for the show. But ratings matter a lot, and while Days got renewed, thank goodness, it seems, with Sony in the picture, it is living on borrowed time.
As to writers, as the years go by, we lose our best soap writers, who are no longer living. And while there ARE writers around, they are not always the best fit for a soap. As we have noted, the ideas come, look good on paper, but the scripts do not live up to the expectations.