Every soap fan knows that as soon as their favorite couple meets that long-anticipated togetherness, it usually spells back burner status and being trotted out every so often to show how happy they are now that they’ve overcome all those exhausting odds, including someone’s brother, someone else’s evil twin sister, an ex-boyfriend, an ex-wife and quite possibly some form of paranormal or mustache-twirling evil intervention on their way to bliss.
Actors and fans alike know that they see the most of their favorite characters when those characters are being tortured, teased, annoyed, betrayed…well, pick an adjective that doesn’t add up to happy and you get the picture. As a soap fan, that means that we’re destined to see our favorite characters and couples torn apart repeatedly. That’s if we want to see them at all. It means that tension is the name of the game.
Then I read an article just this morning that said being comfortable equaled “death” for a writer. If you’re comfortable, you’re not pushing yourself. If you’re comfortable in your writing, does that mean you’ve given yourself the Happy Soap Couple Curse and not even realized it? Kristen Lamb states, ‘A lot of people shy away from growing pains and avoid what scares them, yet I will say this. BEWARE of times you are comfortable. It means you aren’t stretching as an artist and professional. It’s like working out using the same dumbbells for ten years. Your muscles won’t grow. Pain and discomfort are vital to making us better.”
We like comfortable patterns, because they are…huh. Go figure. Comfortable. We feel good there, we feel SAFE there. But you know what? Safe isn’t enough. And while I love my comfy pajamas when I’m at home, I don’t want to stay in them all day, every day. I want to wear those high heels that pinch my toes a little but make me feel like a rock star. Or I’ll wear my pajamas while I write my story in a direction that makes me wonder every day, “Will they like this? It’s different…I don’t know.” But that very question keeps pushing me to show why it’s better.
I want to avoid Happy Soap Couple Death completely – as a writer or IN my writing. I find this is a great way to measure both our own willingness to step outside of our comfort zone as well as how much pressure we’re putting on our characters within our writing. I’ve learned to recognize that funny, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach that rolls just a little bit when I think about the direction I’m taking a story.
Seth Godin says, “At some level, “this might not work” is at the heart of all important projects, of everything new and worth doing.”
So next time you ask yourself, “Will this work?” – Remember, if your storyline can be sung by a chorus of bunnies, it’s probably close to Happy Soap Couple Death. But however, apply a little soapy magic to your story — and think about what else you can torture your characters with. You might even find that a secondary character has an evil twin sister who was her surrogate and intends to steal her husband after faking the baby’s death. Hey, don’t laugh – that is prime soap opera torture. No bunnies will be singing that chorus.