What makes a successful writer

[lovin_safe]

SANTA BARBARA co-creator Bridget Dobson on what makes a successful writer

"The writers who are emotionally tuned to the progress of the show, and who are most willing to adjust when the emotions are even slightly off kilter, are the most successful writers; they are the ones who learn as they go along. Adjustments are normal; without them, a show will falter and fail."

"Having said that, television writers are in a business, and sometimes politics seem to transcend the drama of the moment. For example, a network executive may plead for; even insist on, a character or a storyline being included. This situation is also normal, and it can become a kind of wrestling match. If the writer has enough experience to know that a 'trial run' of the character or the story won't 'kill' the show and will placate the executive, then it may be included, for a short period of time. If it works, hooray. If it doesn't, with luck, the executive will learn from his errors. I have yet to live long enough to see that happen. But I advance it to you as a hypothetical theory."

 

[lovin_safe]

I wonder if she watches DAYS and is seeing the errors of their ways...This fits DAYS to a tee!

 

[Poirot]

Oh, my goodness, I swear, it sounds EXACTLY like Days. Or does that sort of thing happen on all shows. Bridget Dobson has written for a few different soaps over time.

The wonderful, late Doug Marland once wrote his "rules" for taking over at a soap. This was during an interview he did once. I used to have a copy on my computer, but a crash lost it. However, one can always find it via Google.

How Not to Wreck a Soap​

• Watch the show.
• Learn the history of the show. You would be surprised at the ideas that you can get from the back story of your characters.
• Read the fan mail. The very characters that are not thrilling to you may be the audience's favorites.
• Be objective. When I came in to ATWT, the first thing I said was, what is pleasing the audience? You have to put your own personal likes and dislikes aside and develop the characters that the audience wants to see.
• Talk to everyone; writers and actors especially. There may be something in a character's history that will work beautifully for you, and who would know better than the actor who has been playing the role?
• Don't change a core character. You can certainly give them edges they didn't have before, or give them a logical reason to change their behavior. But when the audience says, "He would never do that," then you have failed.
• Build new characters slowly. Everyone knows that it takes six months to a year for an audience to care about a new character. Tie them in to existing characters. Don't shove them down the viewers' throats.
• If you feel staff changes are in order, look within the organization first. P&G (Procter & Gamble) does a lot of promoting from within. Almost all of our producers worked their way up from staff positions, and that means they know the show.
• Don't fire anyone for six months. I feel very deeply that you should look at the show's canvas before you do anything.
• Good soap opera is good storytelling. It's very simple.

 

[Old Cowgirl]

Wow!