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I am a young author writing a fantasy series, and while browsing writing prompts and trying to better my writing yesterday, I got an idea for another, totally different series. I am in love with the one I am writing, but the one that I thought of is also very exiting.
Should I stop the one I am writing to write the other one? Or should I write them both at the same time? Should I cast the other one to the side until I’m done with this one? Or should I forget about the other one?
I do this a bunch and i just move around, write a chapter or two of one and then go back to the other one. I don't really plan out my story all the way to the end though, so if you plan everything then you might want to just go all the way through first but who knows. Currently, I have 5 stories in progress(although my account for my 3 fanfiction stories seems to be offline) and switching between them has never been a problem for me before. Just do a quick skim when switching stories so you don't accidentally put a chapter of 'Kill or be Killed' in your 'Little Unicorn Rhymes' novel.
Ideas are great. Turning them into completed texts is hard.
I would suggest writing down your second idea so you don't forget it and then going and finishing a first draft of your other idea. When it is completed you can give time to the second one.
I do this with games all the time. I've been working on 10 or so different side projects for the past 5 years or so. I've released a grand total of 0 games.
If you're writing for fun, then by all means, work on any book idea you want. But if you're writing to publish, you really have to push hard to get that one done.
It depends on if they are in the same series. For example, it would be fine to do it if the stories eventually intertwined to make sure the stories’ plot lined up, although I think it’s best to focus on one book at a time so you are able to give it your all, and so that the book will be at its best.
To be honest, it depends on your writing style.
First I want to put out there, definitely don't scrap the idea, if you like it, keep it, no matter what. Now back to really answering the question.
Ok, so anyways, you offered four things you could do in your question. 1. Stop writing your current book to switch to the other one. 2. Write them both at the same time. 3. Put the current book aside for a while to write the new idea. 4. Scrap the new idea. I'll just address them all
If by stop you mean permanently, then I say absolutely not. You said yourself that you're in love with your first idea, why would you throw it to the side just because you have a new cool idea? Definitely don't get rid of your first book, especially considering you like it and have already put work into it.
Writing them both at the same time is what I'm doing, but to pull this off you've got to be good at balancing the two. If you focus on one for too much longer than the other than you'll get "rusty" at writing the one that you've been ignoring. Each and every book has to written with a slightly different style, and if you switch for too long, you'll start forgetting the style that you had begun writing in. It's weird and a little bit confusing, but when you start a second book you'll probably get it. So yes, if you balance your time properly, go for it, but if not, just chill with it.
Putting your current book aside might work, now don't get me wrong, you definitely will still get rusty from putting this book aside, but at least in this case, you just get really rusty at writing that book and then you come back, relearn it, and go from there, instead of constantly switching back-and-forth. If you can't do two, I suggest doing this one.
No. If you like your new idea, keep it, when you work on it is completely up to you, but don't scrap it. Keep it and work on it all the way up to the moment that you finish it, or get so incredibly bored of it that writing it genuinely isn't fun. When writing something becomes more like a chore, that's when you know what you're writing isn't very entertaining. I say don't do this one unless you literally have no other choice.
So as an overview. Option two is the best option in my opinion, three comes after two, one after that, and four comes in last. But in the end it's all up to you and your writing style, so listen and take advice from my answer, but don't let it influence your choice too much, after all, they aren't my books.
It's said (by James Scott Bell in his "Revision and Self Editing for Publication") that Isaac Asimov had several typewriters in his office with different projects at different stages and he would start working on one project, and when he got stuck, he would move on to another project (and let his unconscious deal with the problems in the first project while project two would keep the cogs and wheels of his creativity lubricated...)
Though Isaac Asimov was not goofing around with his writing:
"His usual routine was to awake at 6 A.M., sit down at the typewriter by 7:30 and work until 10 P.M."
As others have mentioned, working on too many projects might split your focus. But having more than one project to work on can also help keep you working when you get stuck.
I'm currently outlining book two in a series. I've finished the first draft of book one. Once the draft has been out of mind long enough, I plan to edit it while keep working on book two. I'm hoping I'll get so far with book two that I can start writing draft one of it while editing book one.
It's a bit of an experiment, but so far, I've detected things I need to fix in book one from the work on book two, so in that regard, it seems to work quite well.
