Gluttons for Punishment, Springing Eternal

Occasionally, somebody will liken soap fans to abused spouses (with apologies and great sympathies to anyone who's ever been abused by their spouse). We may be beaten down, talked down to, and ignored - but many of us keep going back for more. It's a morbid comparison, but one that's not entirely untrue.

After the last couple of days, I'm pretty sure that analogy could apply to soap writers as well. I already wrote about the WGA holiday party the other night, and catching up with everyone who is also out of work in daytime. And last night, I got to spend the evening with another fellow former soap writer - one I've worked with and talked to many times, but never face-to-face.

We spent a lot of time talking about what's right in the industry, what's wrong, the behind-the-scenes stories that aren't really appropriate for repeating, and of course, my favorite topic between former soap writers - the most preposterous stories the fans never saw on daytime. (One day, when all of the people involved are long gone, I'm going to post a list of the WORST ideas that NEVER made it to air, thankfully were killed before they could make it in breakdown - it's a list that I think soap fans would go ga-ga for, and would inspire both laughter and horror. It can always be worse, soap fans. ALWAYS.)

So after all of this fun and gossip over drinks, the inevitable question came up "Would you go back?" And the answer for both of us was pretty much "Yes".

Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of out-of-work soap writers out there right now, ranging from the lazy to the brilliant (most of us are definitely somewhere in the middle), and we're all working on our own projects - some of those projects are satisfying us financially, and some of them are satisfying us emotionally. But free of the early morning network meetings, where phrases are micro-managed and spirits are broken, we love being able to explore ideas and themes and worlds with utter freedom.

We cringe at the deadlines, we cower at the notes, we roll our eyes at some of the decisions. And yet, most of us would go back if given a shot.

Not just because of the paycheck. But because somewhere under all of this vitriol, hope lives on. We remember that moment sitting at our computers, completely lost in the middle of a scene, pounding out the thoughts and desires as if we ourselves are these people, and we love that rush. We love stepping into these fictional characters' shoes, and allowing them to help us discover something about ourselves in the process.

Michael Logan recently talked about hope in the latest issue of TV Guide, and in spite of the low ratings, budgets being slashed, vets being fired - the execs in charge remain positive. Naivete? Maybe a little (okay, a lot.) Denial? (Okay, possibly.) But many soap writers share that hope that there's still a way to turn this around, so I don't doubt that everyone's intentions aren't pure, even if their actions show otherwise.

Because at the end of the day... even if you have two actors in front of a piece of cardboard with a home video camera, if the words are there, if the feelings are evoked, if the writing is solid, people will watch. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - it's all about that kiss. If it's done right, that's all you need.