Here is interesting stuff about McTrash and Higley
Accomplishments
McTavish's first stint on AMC was her most critically and commercially successful stint. McTavish updated some of the existing characters and introduced new ones. She wrote several sweeping umbrella stories over the years, most notably a story where Pine Valley was hit by a tornado, and a baby-swap story involving two of the show's young ingenues, Babe and Bianca.
McTavish created several popular characters, including Ryan and Kendall, who are still cornerstones of the show.
[edit] Criticisms
McTavish has been on the receiving end of significant criticism, from the soap press as well as fans.
* On all of McTavish's shows, she has been criticized for writing stories that are plot-heavy without significant character development. Former Soap Opera Weekly critic Marlena Delacroix wrote a 1995 criticism of McTavish's writing for Guiding Light, denoting McTavish's adherence to plot over character. * McTavish was a particularly unpopular choice for head writer at General Hospital, where she wrote a story about a dead man being reanimated. Several of the show's leads made mention of their dissatisfaction with her in subsequent press interviews. * McTavish was also criticized for unrealistic stories at All My Children, as well as violent ones (the town's lesbian character being a victim of rape). She was specifically criticized for rewriting history. The most notable case was reversal of a landmark story where central character Erica Kane had undergone daytime's first abortion; McTavish's rewrite of the story revealed that rather than having had an abortion, Erica's fetus was stolen and implanted into another woman's uterus. McTavish also rewrote history and the timeline of Erica's past to introduce the character of Kendall in the early 1990s.
* Script Writer (September 2003 - November 26, 2004) * Associate Head Writer (1985 - March 6, 2003) & (August 19, 2003 - October 2003) * Co-Head Writer (August 11-18, 2003) * Head Writer (March 7, 2003 - August 8, 2003)
One Life to Live
* Head Writer (December 13, 2004 - Present (termination announced June 4, 2007))
[edit] Awards and nominations
Daytime Emmy Award
* Nominations, 1987, 1994, 1997-1999, and 2006, Best Writing, One Life to Live
Writers Guild of America Award
* Nominations, 1987, 1991, 1993, 2001, and 2005, One Life to Live * Win, 1999, Days of Our Lives
[edit] Criticism
The star of One Life to Live, six-time Emmy-winner Erika Slezak, recently gave voice to frustrations with Higley's work on the show. In the March 2007 edition of Slezak's fan club newsletter she stated, "Dena doesn't care about the rich history of the show, which is evident in what she writes," and that Higley "wants to write stories that she thinks are interesting but nobody else does." [1] Higley's termination was announced June 4, 2007. OLTL Co- Head Writer writer Ron Carlivati assume full Head Writing duties..
she must have been good at one point, cause Days used to be REALLY good
