Writers love to trash Stephenie Meyer’s prose. Recently overheard: she tells instead of shows, she’s a storyteller more than a writer, her protagonist is vapid, her sentence structure sophomoric, her vampires are just too…sparkly. Who would hold up Meyer as an example on a blog promoting excellence in writing? I would. Every time we experience a publishing phenomenon like the Twilight series, we writers have an opportunity to learn about what our readers want. I’d like to point out a few things Stephenie Meyer did right—techniques we can borrow to make our writing more marketable. In Meyer’s series, success boils down to one essential skill: ramping up tension. Let’s break down its components to see what writers in any genre can use. 1. Cash in on unresolved sexual tension. If you can learn to sustain sexual tension over the course of a thousand pages, you too can be very well published. Bella wants-but-can’t-have Edward; Edward wants-but-fears-harming Bella. The plot keeps ...