I got into the world of Twilight pretty late in life. The first book in the series was released in 2005 but it took me a full decade to get to the books. Although I knew about the existence of the books, and that they chronicled the love between a vampire and a human girl, I had never had a desire to read it. And as I sit here writing this, I still am unsure of what led me to want to read all the books, but I did. My son had one week off from school and in that week, I read all four books in the series. What did I learn as I finished Breaking Dawn? Three things, actually.
- First, I learned that I really liked the idea of falling in love with someone and being able to be with them for eternity.
- Second, I learned that Bella and Edward’s relationship was not a healthy one.
- Third, I learned that even if the writing is subpar, you can still get your story published if the idea is fresh and tantalizing.
But I must not have tortured myself enough. In April of 2020 when Stephenie Meyer announced that she would be publishing Midnight Sun – the same story but from Edward’s perspective. I pre-ordered it. What’s the worst that could happen? The world was already on hiatus because of a pandemic. So, when the book arrived in August, I was ecstatic. Sadly, my trip back to Forks, Washington was anything but pleasant. Two hundred pages into it, I could no longer put up with Edward’s thoughts on Bella. I put the book away with the intention of coming back to it in about a week or so. Well, weeks turned into months and months turned into years. I had almost forgotten about this book until I came across it a few weeks ago on the highest shelf of my bookcase. Putting my past judgements aside, I dusted off the cover, and vowed to finish it. It took two long weeks and much fighting with my inner self, but I kept my promise. With a sigh of relief when I read the last word, I returned it to its place.
Reading Midnight Sun had reaffirmed my three prior ideas on the books: the idea of forever with someone is still something I like, Edward probably should have gone to therapy for his Bella obsession, and that a good story can overshadow other flaws. But I would like to add a fourth thing to the list—a person’s writing does improve if they keep at it.
In multiple books, webinars, and quotes about writing, this piece of advice is continuously repeated. But this was the first time I have observed it. Between Twilight and Midnight Sun, Meyer has written five books and each book seems to have improved her skills as a writer.
Very few of us are born with “natural talent.” Most of us must practice our craft constantly to get better. Writing, of course is an art, which means that like all other arts, it is one that needs to be practiced. If we want to be better writers, we must keep writing. Even when we think that what was written is awful, we must keep writing. Even when we don’t feel like it, we must keep writing. Even when the words don’t flow easily, we must keep writing. If we can keep writing through all our challenges, then we will only get better.
This is an important lesson. It is easy to put our pen down and give up. It is much harder to continue, especially when we are starting out. We tend to compare our writing to those writers whose books we read. We think that there is no way we will ever get to their level. It is during these moments of doubts, we must remember that these fellow (yes, fellow) writers got their stories published because they didn’t stop writing. No one is born a great author. Going forward, anytime I will feel the urge to stop practicing my craft, I will think about how much more entertaining it was to be inside Edward’s head than it was to be in Bella’s head, simply because the author had become a better writer.
So, go out into the world today and write something—anything and improve your skills. Enjoy!