Renesmee Came Before the “Triangle”
Renesmee wasn’t created as an excuse for Jacob to get over Bella. Renesmee was created before the "triangle" even came about.
https://stepheniemeyer.com/the-books/new-moon/new-moon-the-story/
Forever Dawn, (Renamed Breaking Dawn), was the original sequel to Twilight.
I was about three hundred pages into Forever Dawn when my life got turned upside down. Twilight was going to be published. People were going to read what I was writing. More specifically, young adults were going to be reading what I was writing. Unintentionally, I’d written a young adult novel. I realized pretty quickly that Forever Dawn did not follow the rules of YA. Because I was caught up in the story, I finished Forever Dawn anyway, knowing that it would never see the light of day; I gave it to my big sister as a birthday gift. And then I started on the real sequel.
The biggest non-YA thing I’d done with Forever Dawn was this: I’d pretty much passed over the rest of Bella’s high school experience entirely, skipping ahead to a time in her life with more mature themes. So, as I began to sketch out New Moon, I went back to Bella’s senior year of high school and asked my little cast of characters, “What happened?”
I swiftly regretted asking them for the story. Because they gave me a story I wasn’t expecting. More specifically, Edward told me something I didn’t want to hear.
I should probably mention here that I am not crazy (that I know of), it’s just that I am a character writer. I write my stories because of my characters; they are the motivation and the reward. The difficulty with strong, defined characters, though, is that you can’t make them do something that is out of character. They have to be who they are and, as a writer, they’re often out of your control.
As I started plotting New Moon (untitled at that point), it became clear that Edward was Edward, and he would have to behave as only Edward would. And, because of that, Edward was leaving.
NO! I didn’t want Edward to leave. I pitched a fit every bit as violent and tearful as those I’ve seen in New Moon discussion forums. I tried to talk him out of it. I presented him with other plot options. I begged. Edward remained unmoved.
https://stepheniemeyer.com/the-books/breaking-dawn/frequently-asked-questions-breaking-dawn#foreverdawn
How different is Breaking Dawn from Forever Dawn? What changed, what stayed the same, and why? Will you ever post extras from Forever Dawn?
Jacob and Bella are not nearly so close. None of the events of New Moon or Eclipse exist; Edward never leaves, so Bella and Jacob never bond. Jacob’s feelings for Bella remain at crush level.
Jacob isn’t there at the delivery, naturally, so he imprints on Renesmee a few weeks later when Bella is visiting Charlie.
Renesmee was inspired by Bella's internet search in Twilight. Her character came before there was even a “triangle.” Jacob imprinted on her in Forever Dawn, which was written before New Moon and Eclipse came about.
https://stepheniemeyer.com/the-books/breaking-dawn/frequently-asked-questions-breaking-dawn#pregnancy
Vampires and pregnancy: when did that idea occur to you? How does that work?
The first seed (no pun intended) was planted when I did Bella’s computer research in chapter seven of Twilight. Bella reads about several real vampire legends—the Danag, Estrie, Upier, etc. In the novel, I only mentioned a few of the many legends I read through. One that I didn’t mention at this point was the entry on the Incubus. The unique feature about that legend was that the incubus could father children. Hmmm, I said, and I filed that kernel of an idea away for later. When I decided to write the first sequel to Twilight (Forever Dawn), I knew it was going to revolve around a hybrid baby from the outset.
When my editor and I decided to go back and really develop Bella’s last year of high school, I did so with the knowledge that it was all going to end up with the events in Breaking Dawn. Everything I wrote was pointed in that direction.
