I have a question regarding personal craftsmanship and improving skill as a writer in relation to project passion

[UltimaBahamut93]

I have two projects that I am currently working on at the same time. Book A and Book B. Not to imply that I am not passionate about B, but if I am being realistically honest I do care more about A. I have more passion and higher hopes for it because it has a message that is really important to me. If somebody put a glowing magical sword to my head and told me to pick one I would say that I would choose to only write book A.

With that being said, I am contemplating if I should write the story that I am more passionate about first or write the other story first. I am 100% convinced that my first book will not be my best in terms of quality. Even though I'm much more passionate about the first project I would hate to have that one get published and then look back on it in the future and wish I had learned more techniques or better crafted my voice/style.

There's also the aspect of potential fan base. If I release project B and it gets some fans, then would it stand a reason that when I release project A it will have gained more attention because there's already (hopefully) a group of people that enjoy my work.

I'm wondering if I'm putting the cart before the horse with this but at the same time I do think it is something that is very important to consider. It might sound like I really don't care that much about project B, but the projects I'm working on now and the future ones I have planned, I do care about a lot. In fact I have scrapped many other book ideas because I did not have a high enough degree of passion for them.

What are your thoughts on this? I would especially love to hear advice from members that have published books and can now look back in retrospective on their first works and their later works.

 

[pmmg]

Passion is the fuel of art. Go where the passion is.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Passion is the fuel of art. Go where the passion is.

This. At least at this stage in your writing career. If A calls to you, then write A. B can have the spotlight next.

But, you wanted to hear from the published. Our first book in our Urban Fantasy series, Faerie Rising, released on April 1 2017. I thought that was pretty funny. We put in 15 years of work and world building into the Books of Binding. A lot changed in that time, because we grew as people in that time. FR did, too, and now a lot of readers will tell us that it's like two different stories by different people. And yeah, that's accurate. I'm the drafter for Team Lowan, and I can look back with more experience and age, and yup, that happened. FR is also flawed. Most readers can't tell. They're content to race along with us, and three have told us that they all almost got into trouble for reading in the car before work, too close to the end to put it down.

I can live with that.

About working on multiple projects, we usually have 5 or 6 different series in development at any given time. Right now we've got two on the front burner, Binding and an unannounced Epic Fantasy trilogy that features an autistic seventeen-year-old farm girl who may be the greatest military mind of her generation, and her 700lb talking Black pig named Rachelle.

Now, I'm autistic and I often have trouble with multitasking. I also have hypergraphia with a big dose of obsessive focus on whatever I'm working on. I'm having to learn to pivot fast because I'm no longer content to dilly dally. You get to a point where you realize that you're running out of somedays. I have 23 books between just these two series to chew through. Send oxygen and maybe a necromancer, because I'm not putting this much of my life into something I love and then leaving it all unfinished. So, I'm learning to alternate. One day on A, the next on B. It's a challenge, but nobody gets this deep into writing without developing a love for ambition.

 

[ThinkerX]

Write the first draft of Book A. Then set that draft aside to write the first draft of Book B. After that, go back and do the first rewrite of Book A. Finish each draft before the switch.

 

[Bick vire]

I have two projects that I am currently working on at the same time. Book A and Book B. Not to imply that I am not passionate about B, but if I am being realistically honest I do care more about A. I have more passion and higher hopes for it because it has a message that is really important to me. If somebody put a glowing magical sword to my head and told me to pick one I would say that I would choose to only write book A.

It looks like you are having the same problem as me..

In my case Book A is the idea that I actually thought about...
And Book B is some random and nice idea that came into my mind...

I haven't started it yet (Book B)

I thought that I should start that After I finished writing book A until a specific point that's in my mind... It's not like I cant write both at a sime time....

But I prefer not to write them both at the same day...

Which book to write first depends on you.... If you had a story planed in your mind from start to end of book B but not Book A you should write it first... And at that time you can think of the Book A continuation.....

 

[Prince of Spires]

Write the story you're most likely to finish. Which sounds like story A.

What that out of the way, don't worry about readers just yet. The truth is that first novels (and second ones for that matter) are rarely good enough for others to read and to really take off and get you a big fan base. Even traditionally published first novels are unlikely to earn out their advances (usually around the $5k mark). So don't stress it.

There are of course exceptions. Harry Potter and Name of the Wind were first novels for instance. But they were just that, exceptions. Most authors struggle to get an audience even with their 5th or their 10th book out there.

Also keep in mind that there is nothing stopping you from writing the same idea multiple times. Write story A. If you get to the end (after editing) and feel it's good enough, then get it out there. If you think it's not, put it in a trunk and write it again (or a different story).

 

[minta]

Go with book A. It sounds like the one that really matters to you, and writing it will probably feel more rewarding. You can always come back to book B later.

 

[xena]

Start with the story that excites you the most. Book A seems like the one.

 

[Penpilot]

IMHO, you're overthinking. Write what you want to write, book A.

Let's say the results end up being a disaster. You can always try again. The idea for that story isn't a one use only item. You can keep trying and trying until you get it right.

My first novel was hot garbage in execution, but I still like the idea for it very much, and always had the intention of revisiting it one day. It's been well over a decade, and one of the next projects at the top of the queue is a kind-of sequel to that first novel. If it works out, I may revisit that pile of hot garbage and rewrite it.