Lessons Learned

[Birol]

Some books are classics from the moment they are first published. Destined to stand the test of time, the enlighten as well as entertain. As writers, it is important for us to study such texts, both those published in days past and those published today. With that in mind, what is the single most important lesson that you, as a writer, have learned from Twilight?

[Horserider]

Twilight is a classic now? Sweet! (Please don't shoot me) Let's see... It's possible for your debut novel to be really long, though not recommended. Teenage girls are crazy. Don't use really long words that you looked up in a thesaurus (like scintillating. who uses that word??) Oh wait, that's three not single most important lesson...

[MattW]

Twighlight is a flash in the pan, destined to spawn dozens of knockoffs in print, and thousands that would be so lucky.

It is The da Vinci code for teen girls.


Lesson learned: know your market.

[PrincessKitten]

What has Twilight taught me? Plot, characterization, and narrative can be replaced with sparkles, adverbs, and emotional abuse, and a majority of readers won't care!

[backslashbaby]

I haven't read Twilight, but I've learned from it not to worry so much if I'm not as deep as Kafka ;)

[MattW]

What has Twilight taught me? Plot, characterization, and narrative can be replaced with sparkles, adverbs, and emotional abuse, and a majority of readers won't care!

Lesson learned: if your audience hasn't read much, they won't know how bad your story might be

Same lesson applies for Eragon.

[bohica]

Lesson learned: little inspires more bitterness than another's success.

Although I do agree with most of the previous posters' criticisms of said novel. ;)

[MattW]

Lesson learned: little inspires more bitterness than another's success.Critical /= Bitter

Although I do agree with most of the previous posters' criticisms of said novel. ;)Careful, someone might accuse you of something...

[bohica]

Careful, someone might accuse you of something...

Gods forbid that something might be missing the bandwagon of Meyer-bashing. It looks like so much fun from back here!

[Philky]

I haven't read it, but I have learned once again how obsessive my female students are.

[Toothpaste]

I have learned that expressing a negative opinion about a popular author means I'm jealous, and expressing a positive one is jumping on the bandwagon.

I've also learned I don't care.

Twilight hasn't so much taught me anything, but confirmed ideas for me. That lots of women really do like that romantic trope of obsessive love, that him being rich and cold, and she being poor and practical has been a magic combination for forever (Pride and Prejudice anyone?), and that character really does triumph over plot. I don't think Meyer did any of these particularly well. I think that she succeeded through a lot of timing and luck and coasted on the strength of the above scenario, but that is not the debate here. Amazing really the power of the good old fashioned love story.

(fwiw, I am having a P & P marathon on Friday! - the 1995 mini-series, not the Knightly film, which is quite good, but will never be as fab as the former)

[Judg]

Actually Toothpaste, that was probably the single best answer to the question.

I haven't read the book nor seen the movie, but the lesson I take from what I do know is that if you tap into a powerful emotion and set somebody's fantasies aflight, you can hardly lose.

[Shweta]

I learned that descriptions of teeth are important.

[Fulk]

Oh boy. Something tells me this thread won't last very long before it ends up locked. :roll:

[KaysenParkerPlath]

Twilight isn't a classic. It's merely a fad that will fade away after the whole "Vampire" theme blows away.

[Birol]

Twighlight is a flash in the pan, destined to spawn dozens of knockoffs in print, and thousands that would be so lucky.

Matt, you really should study Twilight a little better. First, it's YA and the books we read and enjoyed as young adults are often the same books we give to our own children to read. Thus, with the millions of copies that Twilight has sold, and the number of young women who have enjoyed it, it is very likely to be around for years and years to come as those teenage girls grow up become mothers and pass Twilight on to their own daughters.

I haven't read Twilight, but I've learned from it not to worry so much if I'm not as deep as Kafka ;)

This is good. Do you think it's possible to be deep and entertaining, though? Since you haven't read it, do you think it's possible that there might be more to the story than what you've heard? You really shouldn't judge books that you've never read.

Oh boy. Something tells me this thread won't last very long before it ends up locked. :roll:

Why do you say that?

Lesson learned: if your audience hasn't read much, they won't know how bad your story might be

Same lesson applies for Eragon.

Again, Matt, the first thing you should do as a writer is respect your reader. If you can't respect them, how do you expect them to respect you or your work?

[Matera the Mad]

It is all right to talk about the weather and have lots of inane chit-chat in the beginning.

[Sharon Mock]

I learned to never, never, never underestimate the sparkly.

[Matera the Mad]

UH-oh, it's started :D

[melaniehoo]

I've learned that word-of-mouth really can do wonders for an author.

[KikiteNeko]

I have learned that in the good old US of A, a mormon housewife can write a morally sound novel of fanfic quality about an abstinence-pushing vampire with poison sperm and sparkly nipples, and a cardboard cutout with the most cliched name imaginable, and reach worldwide fame. With the same publishing house that printed Catcher in the Rye and White Oleander.

Sometimes the good lord throws me curve balls that I don't understand.

[Birol]

Tomo, your bitterness over Meyer's success is well-known on AW. However, since Publisher's Weekly has declared 2008 the year of Stephanie Meyer (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6647224.html?nid=3329) and her success helped Hachette Book Group have a 26% increase in sales, it might be better to lay your personal feelings aside and examine the books for why they succeeded as well as they did. Afterall, they're going to be around for a long, long time.

[KikiteNeko]

Tomo, your bitterness over Meyer's success is well-known on AW. However, since Publisher's Weekly has declared 2008 the year of Stephanie Meyer (http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6647224.html?nid=3329) and her success helped Hachette Book Group have a 26% increase in sales, it might be better to lay your personal feelings aside and examine the books for why they succeeded as well as they did. Afterall, they're going to be around for a long, long time.

Clever marketing? I'm sure dollar signs and vulnerable fad-hungry teenage girls were all the publishers saw when reading that manuscript. Twilight is the Britney Spears or N'Sync of books.

[Birol]

So what you learned from the Twilight books was marketing? How so?

[KikiteNeko]

So what you learned from the Twilight books was marketing? How so?

I have learned that I don't want to live in a world where Twilight can be published with ease but I can get past an editor, review panel and associate-publisher, only to be turned down by not one but FOUR publishers. I laugh on the outside, but the pain's real.

*sniff*

[Stunted]

When I first read Twilight, I was totally engrossed. I can't figure out why at all. Maybe someday I'll know.

[MacAllister]

When I first read Twilight, I was totally engrossed. I can't figure out why at all. Maybe someday I'll know.You're not alone. As much fun as it can be to jeer and throw popcorn at the screen (metaphorically)--we could all do worse than to figure out what Meyer did so very well that teenage girls can't get enough.

It's that squee factor, you know? She found that pulse for her demographic, and cranked on it.

[NicoleMD]

I keep my autographed copies stacked on my nightstand, hoping to be inspired by the proximity of such genius during my sleep. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, all sparkly like, and pound out 10k on my WIP. Now, I'm not saying there's a direct relation, but...

Nicole

[dempsey]

I keep my autographed copies stacked on my nightstand, hoping to be inspired by the proximity of such genius during my sleep. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, all sparkly like, and pound out 10k on my WIP. Now, I'm not saying there's a direct relation, but...

Nicole

It doesn't count if it's just copypasta of "omg Edward is sooooo hot omg!!!1!eleventyone!!" over and over.

[KikiteNeko]

You're not alone. As much fun as it can be to jeer and throw popcorn at the screen (metaphorically)--we could all do worse than to figure out what Meyer did so very well that teenage girls can't get enough.

It's that squee factor, you know? She found that pulse for her demographic, and cranked on it.

Before I checked out the books, I read the wikipedia article and thought it didn't sound SO bad, at least not to the extent one of my friends was saying.

Then I got to the part about the 100-year old vampire girl who loved makeovers and parties.

I have such contempt for the story that I changed my own avatar using nothing but the power of my MIND.

[NicoleMD]

It doesn't count if it's just copypasta of "omg Edward is sooooo hot omg!!!1!eleventyone!!" over and over.

Nope. My character's name is Edwin.

Nicole

[KikiteNeko]

Nope. My character's name is Edwin.

Nicole

Edwin Sullen and Bella Swamp?

[triceretops]

I sure didn't think that sexual tension could be sustained over four books, much less one. But since I'm a dry mormon, I guess I can figure out how and why she did it. On the one hand, she set down a moral platform for her characters to follow, and on the other hand, ruthlessly dared them to cross that line time and time again. That's a pretty damn good stunt/hook, if you ask me.

[KikiteNeko]

On the one hand, she set down a moral platform for her characters to follow, and on the other hand, ruthlessly dared them to cross that line time and time again. That's a pretty damn good stunt/hook, if you ask me.

It's called a c**k tease, and you can find it in most anime.

[Rarri]

With that in mind, what is the single most important lesson that you, as a writer, have learned from Twilight?

This is something of a tangent, but i learnt from Twilight that i couldn't run away from writing. I've always had a love of writing but continued to run away from it for various reasons (one being that my Dad's a writer). After reading Twilight i realised i couldn't run anymore; i finally sat down at the latop and started writing.

So lesson learned? Just do it.

Yeah, that sounds like quite a pointless post... :D

As a side note, i've posted this umpteen times before, but much as i enjoy the books, i'm not a teenager and i'm not in love with Edward. Books are about balance :)

[Bubastes]

I learned that if you write something that captures the imagination, readers will be more forgiving about the technical flaws. It's like music: it's possible for a less than perfect performance to grab the audience's heart and for a perfect performance to feel cold.

I also learned that this is the "X factor" that is most out of a writer's control. Creating that emotional connection can probably be developed to some extent by analyzing successful books to figure out why they work for readers (I've analyzed Da Vinci Code myself and found it helpful), but, like any relationship, luck and chemistry play a part as well. I'm okay with that, though. I write the best story I can and let go of the rest.

[KikiteNeko]

A great Twilight review from a fan: http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/bum-reviews/2741-twilight

[CaroGirl]

The success of Twilight can't possibly be just about clever marketing or word of mouth. My son only reads voraciously those texts that he loves, that create a "picture" in his mind. He might have got these books on a recommendation but he DEVOURED them because he loved them. Why? I don't know. They're supposed to be for angsty teenage girls, aren't they? Not necessarily pre-teen boys. Nevertheless, anything that has my boy reading clandestinely under the covers until 10 at night gets my vote as a Good Thing. Harry Potter is also a Good Thing.

I have not read the Twilight books myself.

[Clair Dickson]

I learned that I don't understand the teenage brain.

And I know that some people never outgrow being teenagers. =)

I also learned that taste is subjective.

[CaroGirl]

I learned that I don't understand the teenage brain.

And I know that some people never outgrow being teenagers. =)

I also learned that taste is subjective.
QFT.

[Phaeal]

Lesson learned: if your audience hasn't read much, they won't know how bad your story might be

Same lesson applies for Eragon.

Yuppity yuppity yuppers.

Also: Visually striking covers help. Lots. You can spot these black-red-white babies from space, never mind across Borders Mighty-Mega-Stores.

[Phaeal]

You're not alone. As much fun as it can be to jeer and throw popcorn at the screen (metaphorically)--we could all do worse than to figure out what Meyer did so very well that teenage girls can't get enough.

It's that squee factor, you know? She found that pulse for her demographic, and cranked on it.

True, but I don't think Meyers found the pulse so much as stumbled across it, Bella-like, by writing the story that fascinated her as well as her eventual audience.

That is, if anyone was cynical about producing these books, I don't think it was the author. There's a lesson there, too.

[J. Andrews]

Twilight taught me that angst can substitute for plot.