Twighlight readers I have a question (Flamers stay away)
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Not flaming, just stating that some times, writers get lucky and hit the right fad at the right time. I think that's also sort of what Stephanie Meyer did. She happened to write about the right thing at the right time targetting the right audience and road the wave of success.
As many people have said before: it is written in first person, with the character in question not having much in the way of personality. So the reader can firmly plant themselves in Bella's shoes. And Bella has a just about perfect vampire lusting after her, hence why it is popular with teenage girls. It also has a pretty good tone to it as well.
Aren't all movies/books/games supposed to be engaging and enjoyable? That is the reason that they are made. It's up to the reader/viewer/player to choose how the medium engages them and how much they enjoy it.ciortas1 said:
I watched the new Dawn of the Dead (2004 I think it was) and was not scared one bit. I did not find any enjoyment in it in that way. However, I did find the entire movie laughable, and, from that perspective, found it to be quite enjoyable. The movie was intended as a horror film, yes, but, over all of that, it was intended for the audience to enjoy it in some way. I fulfilled that intention when I had fun watching the movie.
You seem a bit closed minded on this topic, as most of the people on this site have shown to be. I fully understand that these books are absolute drivel. They are not examples of good writing or anything like that. However, the fact of the matter is that they have sold a ton of copies and have a huge fanbase. You may not agree with this, hell, I would go as far as assuming you haven't even read the series and are making baseless accusations right now. These books have a good plot. Good in the fact that it is engaging and keeps people reading, not good in the fact that it deserves praise as a classic.
Reading Stephanie Myers is like watching a trainwreck in progress. You know it's nothing short of a disaster, and yet you cannot help but be mesmerized anyway. I've had such guilty pleasures myself, most recently Frank Miller's rendition of "The Spirit" (and even I admit it's a horrible and sexist movie, though I still enjoyed the spectacle).Gxas said:
This is probably gonna sound like flaming, but it's not.Orinon said:
Twilight is like the Da Vinci Code. It's there to be read in the voice people use when they're mouthing the words and moving their fingers across the page. You're looking at a maximum reading level of 9. (like the Star/Sun) Both books have been done many times before, but never with such emphasis on the emotions.
The first thing they've done is take the Bloom from HALO. Everything is SUPER IMPORTANT, or SUPER BAD. Nothing is just normal.
The next thing is that, as Yahtzee said about Joss Wheedon, every word of dialogue is thought out to maximise the moment, and can be said by any character. That's why Edward's breath is beautiful and he has sinewy muscles. It's less about sense and more about dazzling the audience.
Eliminate all soul from the characters. The reader inhabits the soul so you only need the bare essentials there. Even hair/skin colour doesn't need to be defined.
Wrap it up. James Patterson (one of the best selling authors) has over 200 chapters per book, each maybe 3 pages.
Moonlighting Theory: SEXUAL TENSION WHERE THEY NEVER QUITE GET IT OFF.
Finally, screw research. Anything you get from Wikipedia is how far others are going to go.
That's how to get successful. But your soul will hate you. Until it sees your bank account.
Maybe I am weird but wouldn't a Twilight forum be a place to ask this question?
Also sometimes the only lesson things like this can teach you is that a lot of people like shit. J. K. Rowling and Dan Brown are other great examples of this concept.
Also sometimes the only lesson things like this can teach you is that a lot of people like shit. J. K. Rowling and Dan Brown are other great examples of this concept.
The premise of the story promotes the idea of what I call the "immortal love story" Bella is in love with someone, but circumstances mean that she will die for her love, everything is conspiring to keep the two apart, but they strive to stay together, at the possible expense of their lives. Read that again and think of Romeo and Juliet. Same thing.
My sister is an english teacher and she loves Twilight, even though she admits the writing in it is terrible, its the premise, the ability to imagine that you are Bella that makes it appeal to a demographic which is as broad as they come; females, making half the population of the earth eligable to love Twilight.
My sister is an english teacher and she loves Twilight, even though she admits the writing in it is terrible, its the premise, the ability to imagine that you are Bella that makes it appeal to a demographic which is as broad as they come; females, making half the population of the earth eligable to love Twilight.
Like Dracula? or almost any movie monsters...they're all after virgins...Which surprisingly would seem to put forward the idea that sluts are safe from vampires...DuctTapeJedi said:
Possibly the worst place to ask. Twihards make Islamic fundamentalists seem blase.manythings said:
Mary Sues are popular...and a safe way to go if you want to write a book. I don't recommend it because I like to have a challenge but it is safest.
I'm not trying to flame or start a war or anything this is just one opinion. I don't like Twilight...but I'm at the point I really don't care if you like it or not just don't bug me about it.
but yeah have the main character be a blank slate and let the reader impose themselves as that character and give he/she their own personality...
I'm not trying to flame or start a war or anything this is just one opinion. I don't like Twilight...but I'm at the point I really don't care if you like it or not just don't bug me about it.
but yeah have the main character be a blank slate and let the reader impose themselves as that character and give he/she their own personality...
I think it works because it's a fantasy of being unique at a time in your life when you are striving to be something different. It appeals to younger women who are going through that period in their lives and older women who enjoying imagining it could have happened to them.
Personally I hated it Lost Boys rule!
I would have burnt all the copies but I'm not allowed into the bookshop after the Dan Brown/woodchipper incident.
Personally I hated it Lost Boys rule!
I would have burnt all the copies but I'm not allowed into the bookshop after the Dan Brown/woodchipper incident.
The Twilight books are very poorly written, but they have a good foundation for a story and they cater well to the target audience. Teen girls. I never understood how adults could like them so much. Possibly remembering a time in their young when they were the target audience. Beats me.
That said, I'm so tired of 100s year old creatures falling for teenage girls. That's not romantic, that's pedophilia.
That said, I'm so tired of 100s year old creatures falling for teenage girls. That's not romantic, that's pedophilia.
I despised that movie so much... It ended and I was like, "What the fuck did I just watch?"Atmos Duality said:
The books may be a trainwreck, but it wasn't that which kept me going. I was genuinely invested in the plot. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoyed reading those books because they kept me wondering what happened next. That, in my mind, makes for a good plot. It was interesting and kept my attention.
I'm not giving it a "so bad it's good" title. It was not good. It was awful. The point still stands that the plot kept me interested and kept me reading. As a whole, the book was terrible. Pull out the plot and you can actually say that it was a good book. It's a romance at its core. Pull out the sparkly vampires and everything that people seem to have such a problem with and you have the basis for a good novel. It's a simple "girl loves boy, boy loves girl, it can't happen for one reason or another" story. I mean, hell, its almost Romeo and Juliet.ciortas1 said:
You and everyone else who hates this series hates it because of the padding around the plot. You don't look at why it might attract people other than the obvious reasons, which I know there are many people who read and enjoyed the book because of.
I being a young (well I'm twenty now) writer, I believe I may help you on some insight to explain how this makes sense.Orinon said:
I DESPISE THIS BOOK, AND IT'S SERIES WITH THE MOST PASSIONATE HATRED IN MY HEART!
But... I'll tell you exactly why it became a best seller; It appealed to it's demographic. Lets face it and just throw the truth out there; this book was written for preteen to teenage girls, and in a time were sexuality has taken over the popular culture with television shows and movies depicting women as objects, dressing them in as little clothing as possible (even if they are the protagonist), this book is the Women's Rights Movement of relationships and how they should be.
Noting in the Twilight series is original. Contrary, it has all been done before in the great pass of literature. Why 'this' particular book as gain such popularity is not because of it's character interactions, development in plot or relationships, but the timing in which the book was released.
This book knew when to strike the bookstores and catch interest in young women, and in some way I thank Meyer's because she single handedly (along with publishers) got a new generation of women to read. Though in my opinion the book is horrible, it is still something of an accomplishment.
Back to my first point: By reading this book (and like every other book), women want to live within this pure fantasy where a man, 'the' man of her dreams, will stay with her forever, and that is not in the literal sense such as in other stories. Parallel to Romeo & Juliet, the two near the end of the play commit suicide (in a sense) so that they may be with each other for eternality in the afterlife, a theme most common in [Greek] mythology. In Twilight, you have a man who is immortal. This man has also noted to you his feelings and passion, so instead of being together in death, the two can live forever without the restraints of mortal time. This is of-course what Bella wishes for, but Edward considers it to be a curse. He (Edward) believes that love is a 'human' aspect and even quotes a famous line when he persuades Bella to not become a vampire at the end of the book and movie: "Isn't it enough to just live a long happy life, with me?" (I'm reflecting off memory so the line may not be fully correct). In the world of thirteen to sixteen year old girls, this man is ideal and they wish to have someone who wants a relationship for the purity of love rather then the sexual desire that men these days (I hate to attack my own gender like this, but it is true and it is a main reason why this book has done so well)
Another characteristic of Edward is that he's no longer human. This brings the monster aspect in consideration. Many people ask why Bella would fall for a vampire (vampyre) if he could loose control and decide to kill her, almost like in the end of the first book or how Jasper attacked her near the beginning of the second. Many 'idiotic' fangirls or fanboys may say because he is handsome, majestic, or loving, ect. But the truth is in the question asked. Control is the real symbolic reason Bella fell for Edward. Control, knowing that he would not harm her because he has not already. If he could control this animalistic quality (because animals according the some beliefs have no conscious and only basic nature instincts, like hunger), then he is more 'human' then he believes. Control also plays a main part in the Cullen family, not feeding off the blood of humans prove that that they have a choice and will. This could be taken into a Christianity symbolic sub-group due to the writers religious beliefs. Even though dead, and vampyres once being a part of Satan's legion of the damned, they have broken from the chains of sins and have redeemed themselves (the discipline it takes for them to become 'vegetarians'). Though you can see it as a Demonic symbol as well. Even though it is stated that they are vampyres, the most demonic symbolism would be the materialistic qualities of the Cullens. Being alive for years, they have became somewhat economically sound, beneficial wealth from their immortality. Remember, in all religion, material means equals damnation. That's just fact according to historical texts.
To phrase what I have just typed. Write in a specific genre, then pick a group of consumers to target your product on. When writing, put in strong symbolization's that can compare your fiction to the readers life. The only part you need to worry about next is timing, when you release your novel/novella/short story/ect.
I'm a guy who doesn't care about twilight, and I haven't read it all the way through, but what I have read is terrible literature, and bad writing in general.Orinon said:
Why is it so successful? It appeals to a certain gender and age demographic. The themes in the book tend to be really attractive to 13 year old girls; it's generally the whole teenage romance/sexual tension stuff.
I suggest that you write a book that is a quality read as opposed to trite garbage that's really popular.
The most specifically interesting thing that kept me going were the cloned-goons. So many fun lines ("We know. We was watchin.") and they are the happiest looking goons ever; it's hard not to be charmed by the surreal nature of it.Gxas said:
Oh, and I wanted to see if Samuel Jackson could sink lower than George Lucas. Sad to say that I still greatly preferred his role of the Octopus over Mace Windu; and Octopus had no dignity left after the mud wrestling-toilet scene anyway...
Everything I just described was campy or surreal, but altogether BAD, yet I was entertained by it anyway because it didn't annoy or offend me enough (now, the Frank Miller "Whore Complex" is another story entirely).
The most common complaints I hear about it are bland characters, where the only appeal is that the reader can replace and existing character with themselves and it would still make sense.
The only tip I have is to not go into direct competition with Twilight, as often happens with a very popular book appearing in a very minor genre (Dark Vampire Romance) it explodes in popularity resulting in many books being made to cash in on it, causing the market to oversaturate.
If you want similar sales, you need to find an existing minor genre, and expand on it.
The only tip I have is to not go into direct competition with Twilight, as often happens with a very popular book appearing in a very minor genre (Dark Vampire Romance) it explodes in popularity resulting in many books being made to cash in on it, causing the market to oversaturate.
If you want similar sales, you need to find an existing minor genre, and expand on it.