How to Become a Soap Opera Writer
"General Hospital," "All My Children," "The Young and the Restless" ...who can forget characters like Luke and Laura, Erica Kane, Victor and Nikki? If there were ever a poll taken to pick legends of the soap screen, these would certainly garnish some votes. Admittedly, some of us have even raced home from school just to see these creatures of imagination come to life. Now it's your turn to race to work and script them.
- Take some classes. Getting a degree is beneficial, but the most important thing to be is a great writer with an exceptional imagination. If you think you have what it takes to become a first-rate soap writer, take a scriptwriting class and go from there.
- Get a screenplay agent. Screenplay agents take scripts and screenplays that they think would be successes and show them to producers and directors. Most producers and directors won't even look at a script or screenplay without an agent attached to it. If you think that your script is good, hire an agent.
- Become an intern at one of the networks. Easier said than done, but if there is a waiting list, get on it immediately. College juniors and seniors have the best chances of becoming an intern.
- Check out the writing styles of some of the current soap writers. Don't pay attention to a particular love scene, listen for the dialogue and look for how the characters interact with each other. Take some notes and incorporate some things into your own script.
- Do it yourself. Grab a camera, recruit your friends as actors and put that script to work on your local public access television station. Do a few shows and send the video along with some of your scripts to a screenplay agent.