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Soap opera scribes are not bad writers, they are writers whose (often considerable) craft is turned against the aims of more substantive writing. The defining characteristic of soap operatic writi...
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#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T08:51:13Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/36255 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
Chris Sunami
·
2019-12-08T08:51:13Z (about 5 years ago)
Soap opera scribes are not bad writers, they are writers whose (often considerable) craft is turned against the aims of more substantive writing. The defining characteristic of soap operatic writing is plot disconnected from character development. Events happen, one after another, chosen for their potential for thrills and interpersonal conflict, but no one ever really learns anything, or changes at a profound level (unless demanded by the day's plot). The stakes feel low, even when they are superficially high, because no bomb, no pregnancy, no fight, no wedding, no reconciliation, no amnesia, no spycraft, or anything else is ever really going to make a memorable difference in these characters' lives. To put it another way, soap operas can entertain you, but they cannot teach you anything worth learning.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2018-05-18T17:00:40Z (over 6 years ago)
Original score: 3