For several months, my oldest daughter kept going on and on about reading a novelist’s bestselling book series that, I must admit upfront, I thought was a little strange. In fact, if I tell you that the novelist’s fans are often teenage girls who can be found desperately lined up outside of bookstores and movie theaters everywhere, as soon as her latest release comes out, then you probably have already guessed who I’m writing about. I’m writing about Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight series.
At first, I thought it was terrific that my daughter was taking such an avid interest in reading; not too long after that, I thought it was a bit tragic. Even more tragic, is that once she finished the entire series, she turned to me for incessant discussions about the novels. “Oh my …!” I secretly thought, “She’s not going to turn into one of those crazy Twilight fans, is she?” As my patience for these Twilight-chats turned into impatience, I began to express my concern for her mental well-being. She dramatically responded back to me, “I have no one else to talk to about this!” and “There aren’t any more books in the series for me to read!” I stared back bewildered, thinking, “Is that really a bad thing?”; but, the absurdity of it all eventually got me thinking, “Who is this Stephanie Meyer? And, how does she get people addicted to her writing, because I could sure use some of that?!”
After taking a closer look at Meyer, I found that despite her overwhelming success, she has many critics, for reasons more substantial than what I have presented; and, she’s a writer who has broken nearly all the so-called rules for success in writing, yet she is still a success. As a stay-at-home mom, she has no formal training in writing. In fact, she said that she had never written a short story before writing Twilight. This may explain why her critics fault her for having poor character development and no suspense, among other elements missing from her story. What it doesn’t explain, however, is why the fans love the story, anyway. Another interesting note is that she doesn’t write for others, she writes for herself; at least, that’s what she claims. In an interview with TIME Magazine, she explains, “I wrote [the Twilight series] for me” and “if I stop to think about what someone else would think about this section or how people will respond to this one, I wouldn’t be able to get a word on the page.”
So, Meyer did not become a bestselling author because she’s a great fiction writer, or because she marketed herself effectively to what her audience wants; no, she became a bestselling author because she wrote about something that she genuinely enjoys, in a way that is meaningful to her. That is what ultimately resonated with many, who apparently thought that her literary talent and marketing savvy were of lesser importance or effect than the passion she conveys in her writing. If she had been on the bestseller’s list just once, instead of multiple times, then critics might be able to effectively argue that she made it there by mere luck. Clearly, more than luck is at work for her, especially when other first-time authors, who have been added to the list of bestsellers, demonstrate this same principle of being successful when they write about something that makes them passionate. So, what can writers like you and I learn from a writer whose work found success, despite breaking nearly all the rules for success? WRITE ABOUT WHAT YOU LOVE, no matter how crazy or incompetent people may think you are!
Stephanie Auguste 