A Look at POV in the Twilight Saga

Stephenie Meyer Uses Viewpoint to Create Bestselling Series

Sep 15, 2009

Stephenie Meyer targets tweens with her choice of point of view (POV) in Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. The result was a bestselling young adult series.

Point of view is a major player when it comes to deciding how to write a novel. Beginning authors might want to study the popular Twilight saga to determine how to use viewpoint to its full potential.

In literature, first person POV can pull readers into the story by allowing them to feel as though they are the main character. By writing Twilight from the viewpoint of Bella Swan, Stephenie Meyer allows both tweens and older women to feel as though they are Bella.

From an analytical aspect, Bella’s viewpoint attracts the target audience for the series: teenage girls. The character is a young teenage girl, experiencing her first love. These facts coincide with what many young girls feel during this time. Because this is such a pivotal moment for many women, the story also appeals to older women, like the members at TwilightMoms, an online forum for fans of the series.

Meyer continues to write for the tween audience by maintaining Bella’s POV for New Moon and Eclipse, the next two books in the Twilight series.

Jacob Black moves from a secondary character to a main character at the end of Eclipse when Meyer introduces his POV. This move may have some fans wondering why Meyer didn’t bring in Edward’s POV. Theauthor answered the question in an interview with GossipCheck by saying that Jacob’s POV provided the most action for the story. And for fans who have read the books, they know she’s right.

Switching to Jacob’s POV carries readers through a rather difficult section of Breaking Dawn, the last book in the saga. Had Meyer remained in Bella’s POV, readers might have gotten bored. Jacob’s POV not only brought a fresh voice to the story, it allowed Meyer to delve into the conflict between Jacob and Edward.

Writers may want to read the books and study the way Meyer uses a different tone for each of her POV characters. Skimming through a section leaves no doubt as to which character is giving the first person account at any given time.

While fans originally responded to Bella’s POV and endured Jacob’s, many still want to hear the story from the perspective of Edward Cullen. At one point in time, the author planned to give fans exactly that.

Midnight Sun was to be a retelling of first book in the series from Edward Cullen’s POV. Due to the draft of the story being leaked on the Internet, Meyer has postponed plans to finish the novel.

POV Matters When Writing a Novel

As writers can see, viewpoint can have a major impact on how readers respond to a story. Authors who want to target male teenagers may want to write from the perspective of a male teenager. Likewise, it’s important for an author to determine whether to write from a first person or third person POV.

Fans can read the full interview with Meyer at GossipCheck. For more information on the Twilight Saga, readers can visit the author’s Web site. Readers may also want to check out Wings, which is endorsed by Stephenie Meyer.

Little, Brown Young Readers published Twilight (ISBN-13: 978-0316160179) in October 2005, New Moon (ISBN-13: 978-0316160193) in August 2006, Eclipse (ISBN-13: 978-0316160209) in August of 2007, and Breaking Dawn (ISBN-13: 978-0316067928) in August of 2008.

The copyright of the article A Look at POV in the Twilight Saga in Writing Techniques is owned by Tara McClendon. Permission to republish A Look at POV in the Twilight Saga in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.