Midnight Sun offered a different point of view of the events in Twilight, and what drove Stephenie Meyer to write it was how boring Bella was. Vampires and werewolves are some of the most popular and beloved creatures in pop culture, and as such, they have been adapted to all types of media, each with a unique touch, but none can compare to what Stephenie Meyer did in her debut novel, Twilight. Published in 2005, Twilight told the story of the romance between human Bella Swan and vampire Edward Cullen, which ended up being quite problematic.
Still, the Twilight book series was a big success and became a worldwide phenomenon, building a loyal fanbase around the world. This led to the novels being adapted to the big screen, and so The Twilight Saga expanded the books’ fanbase even more, though it also drew a lot more criticism as it highlighted the stories’ biggest problems. However, this wasn’t an impediment for Meyer to continue working on the Twilight universe and looking to expand it, and so she started writing a fifth novel titled Midnight Sun, which even though isn’t a continuation of Bella and Edward’s story, it helped to answer some questions. Midnight Sun is a retelling of Twilight now from Edward’s perspective, and while fans were thankful for another Twilight novel, it was inevitable to ask why Meyer chose to write a retelling instead of a brand new story.
Although what he did when he left Forks for some time. Even though Midnight Sun revisited events fans already knew well, Meyer shared on her official website that writing from his point of view was “a fun exercise”, and what drove her to write it in the first place was the realization of “how boring the experience of Bella’s first day of school was” when compared to Edward’s experience.
Twilight begins with Bella moving to Forks, Washington, with her father, Charlie Swan, and as such the story covered her first day at school, where she was treated as a novelty. There she met Edward, who at first was quite rude to her and she didn’t understand why. Meyer added that Bella’s point of view of the first day of school was boring as “she’d just gone to a new school and seen a really pretty boy who wasn’t nice to her”, while Edward had “his whole life destroyed and very nearly committed a mass murder”. Midnight Sun revealed that his reaction to being close to Bella for the first time wasn’t because he was grossed out but because Bella’s scent was too irresistible, to the point where Edward considered killing everyone in the room as to not leave any witnesses. Meyer went on to explain that writing that first chapter from Edward’s perspective was “much more exciting”, and as fun is her primary motivation, she kept on writing the story.
Surely, Midnight Sun offered some answers to questions left by Twilight, such as what Edward did while watching Bella sleep (though it wasn’t a good answer), and while it can be fun to some to follow the story from his point of view, Midnight Sun doesn’t offer enough new things to be considered superior to Twilight. Bella’s point of view of her first day of school might be boring to Meyer and some readers too, but it was relatable (to an extent, of course), and that’s what made it a hit with young readers.
