1) Weeklong Conversations - It takes special writing to make sure that a conversation lasts for an entire week of soap opera episodes. To do so, you must master the art of interruption (right at the point when you get to the meat of the conversation), followed by the intimidation factor (where the one participant in the conversation decides not to say anything further when asked later on what he was going to say because he's being black-mailed now, etc.).

2) Split Personalities - What would a soap opera be without a split personality or two (or three)? Extra points if the writer can have more than one character on the show battling a split personality disorder at the same time.

3) The Comeback - How do you reintroduce an actor that was on the show years ago and is coming back? Especially if they previously died on the show? Better yet, what if the actor is coming back to the show but someone already has his part (as is the case with a current storyline on One Life to Live)? It can be a delicate (and sometimes messy) piece of writing to get all the pieces to fit together.

4) Transplant/Surgery - You could never write for a soap opera without knowing how to handle transplant writing. Organ transplants may not be that rare in real life nowadays, but they're especially common in soap operas. The more complex, the better (heart and liver transplants are great, especially if they're from the character's close relative on the show).

5) Who's the Daddy? - Every soap opera has to deal with pregnancies, and when those pregnancies come up it's safe to assume that there will be a twist to them. Who's the daddy? Most of the time the mom doesn't know, and the potential dad doesn't know either. Throw a DNA test mixup in the plot, followed by some cover-ups, and you've got yourself a good soap opera plot.

6) Amnesia - Every soap opera has to deal with bouts of amnesia from time to time (it's also a great way to use the comeback in # 3 above), so if you're serious about soap opera writing you'd better figure out some good ways for people to lose their memories (any knock on the head will do, but the more inventive the better).

7) Misunderstanding and Cheating - There's a lot of cheating and adultery going on with soap operas and a lot of it starts with a simple misunderstanding. Character A hears a small part of her boyfriend's conversation and thinks he's cheating on her, so she heads to the bar, has a male friend console her, and then they wind up doing the nasty. Of course, all along the boyfriend wasn't cheating on her, but by the time she finds out it's too late (and typically this leads to the plot in # 5 above).