Stephenie Meyer

Twilight Series, Film and Breaking Dawn

Life has changed drastically in the last five years for author Stephenie Meyer. After a dream inspired her to write Twilight, she has been a bestselling author with throngs of fans. She shares what her life is like now that the movie based on her novel is coming out.

It all started June 2, 2003. I know the exact date because I had all these other things on my calendar that I had to do that day.

I had this really great dream, and it was odd because it was coherent, because there was really complicated conversation, and because I don’t ever dream about vampires. You don’t get a dream like that twice, you know?

I woke up and I just was wrapped up in this idea of what was going to happen next. Was he going to kill her or were they going to be together? It was 50/50 at that point. I wrote it down because there were a lot of nuances to the conversation I didn’t want to forget, and I knew how they would go. I forget everything.

Once I got started, I was completely hooked on writing, and this was something brand new to me. I had no ambitions for a writing career. I had a career I was really busy with; I had three little boys, and there was no time for something else.

Writing for me was like finding your favorite flavor of ice cream, all of a sudden there it was. This is what I should have been doing for the last 30 years. What was I thinking? I had to just keep going with it.

Making The Twilight Movie

When we started out I actually sold the rights to a different company. I got a look at a script that was a decent vampire movie, but it had nothing to do with Twilight. You could have produced that movie and never given me any credit. That was kind of a horrifying experience.

So when I went back into this, I said, "Here’s a list of things that absolutely can't be changed." That meant no fangs, no coffins, they sparkle in the sunlight, the characters have to exist by their present names, in their present forms, and you can't kill anyone who doesn't die in the book.

When I read books, I see them very visually. I cast every book I read. I did exactly the same thing when I was writing Twilight. If I hadn’t, I probably wouldn't have agreed to do a movie in the first place, because it’s a huge risk. It was a natural step for the story.

As a whole it was just so overwhelming. I was braced myself for the first scene, because what if it was really horrid? I was almost watching through my fingers, and I had my little notepad because it was a rough cut and I was going to give them the notes on what I wanted.

After a couple of minutes, I completely forgot why I was there. There were so many things that brought déjà vu. When the movie was over I was so overwhelmed. I needed a moment to take it all in. So many scenes were the way I had envisioned them.

Writing and Releasing Breaking Dawn

I knew going in there is no way I can please everybody. I can't even please half the people. I read an interview George Lucas did about Indiana Jones and how all the fans have already written their sequel and if they don’t see that sequel, they're going to be upset. I found myself in that same position.

The fourth book was bigger than I ever would have dared to imagine. It was better in a lot of ways and it was worse in a ton of ways. It was a lot of overwhelming stuff that I couldn't really take in. It’s easier for me when I’m at home and I don’t have to talk into a microphone in front of a bunch of people. I just forget that this is all going on and I just live my life.