A soap writer has shared the secrets to a lasting and captivating career in the business – and the brutal reason why so many of the creators behind your favourite shows get sacked.
Opening up candidly about what makes soaps so enduring, Julie Poll, a scriptwriting teacher who has worked for the likes of Disney and Universal, explained that the first rule of making any soap opera is understanding that it is a continuous story.
This will inevitably make a lot of sense for fans of British soaps in particular – Coronation Street, for example, has been following the ups and downs of life in Weatherfield since 1960.
She explained: ‘There is no hiatus and no repeats [when telling a soap opera].
‘It’s the novel that never ends and there are some essential plot twists that every soap opera writer learns to respect.’
Julie then listed some examples of the tricks and dramatic devices used by writers to keep their audiences entertained.
Julie Poll, a scriptwriting teacher, explained that the first rule of the job is understanding that soaps are a continuous story
Julie then listed some examples of the tricks and dramatic devices used by writers to keep their audiences entertained and how soaps keep viewers coming back to places like the Rovers in Coronation Street time and time again
This will inevitably make a lot of sense for fans of British soaps in particular – Coronation Street, for example, has been following the ups and downs of life in Weatherfield since 1960
Julia explained that car journeys present a great opportunity for drama and typically people don’t get to their destinations, especially if it’s raining.
Another trope of soap operas is the one-night stand, which she says ‘will likely produce a child.’
She said: ‘Rarely does a woman give birth in a hospital. Elevators, remote cabins, and the kitchen floor are some favourite places.’
Julia also pointed out that the people in soap operas are typically related, something that is certainly the case in the likes of Emmerdale, Corrie and more.
She also explained that soaps contain a phenomenon known as SORAS – soap opera rapid aging syndrome. This was actually noted in a recent episode of Emmerdale when viewers pointed out that actor Kai Assi, who is 15 years old, looked significantly older in his recent scenes as Jai Sharma’s son Archie.
Julie said: ‘For example, a ten-year-old girl goes to boarding school and when she returns home several months later, she’s eighteen, because there are more stories for teenagers than for ten-year-olds.’
Julia explained that car journeys present a great opportunity for drama and typically people don’t get to their destinations – pictured above is an example from Emmerdale
Julie also explained that soaps contain a phenomenon known as SORAS – soap opera rapid aging syndrome
This was actually noted in a recent episode of Emmerdale when viewers pointed out that actor Kai Assi, who is 15 years old, looked significantly older in his recent scenes as Jai Sharma’s son Archie
Naturally, there are some rules around character deaths, and she said it’s a common occurrence for characters who have died without their body being found to return from the dead.
We recently saw this in Coronation Street when Becky returned from the dead, threatening Swarla’s relationship.
Julie said: ‘In one of my favourite story meetings, a new executive producer wanted to bring back a character who had been killed by a jealous wife and turned into a shrunken head.
‘The shrunken head had been seen on air, but the producer was adamant. “Make it work,” he said. And so we did.’
However, while the job of a soap writer certainly provides opportunities to get creative, Julia explained that working on particular shows can be a short-lived experience.
She said: ‘Painful as it was for me, it was not unusual to be fired when new head writers or executive producers came on board and wanted to hire their own people. Therefore every time a 13-week cycle ended there was a chance you’d be let go’.
The rule about character deaths recently played out on Coronation Street when Becky returned from the dead, threatening Swarla’s relationship
However, while the job of a soap writer certainly provides opportunities to get creative, Julia explained that working on particular shows can be a short-lived experience as she experienced when working as a writer on As the World Turns for the first time
Thankfully, she managed to keep herself afloat after being brutally axed until she landed a regular job on the show, which, this time, lasted for a number of years
Julia said this is something she personally experienced while working on the popular US soap As The World Turns.
Thankfully, she managed to keep herself afloat working for other programmes until she landed a regular job on the show, which, this time, lasted for a number of years.
She described working on a soap as a writer as being like part of an ‘assembly line’, with each person playing an important role in a machine that, overall, creates captivating stories that keep viewers tuning in time and time again.
Julie explained: ‘The head writer writes long term story projections of up to two years.
‘Following these story lines the head writer maps out the week scene by scene. She (or he) has a staff of six to ten associate writers. Each writer writes one day of the week.’
