Deciding Between Ideas

[Goswick]

So, I've been writing a story I've been really enjoying, and I love writing it thus far - but as I continue to go ahead, it's likely that my story will be properly brought to a finish within the next few months. I already have an ending planned out for it, but my issue is - I'm still stuck debating what story idea to write next.

I've got two ideas at the moment, and I can't quite decide which one I want to do more. So, I was just wondering how you peeps determine what you'd write next.

Do you ask readers of your other fictions, do you try to see which would have more mainstream appeal, or do you try to write whichever one you think you'd be more comfortable with? Feel free to let me know!

 

[Ace_Arriande]

i write them all

But seriously, just write whichever one you're the most interested in or which you think you'll have the most fun with.

Or go for a hybrid approach of caring about success but also wanting to just have fun. Choose whichever idea will be the most successful (most targeted toward the general audience of the platform) that is also what you will genuinely have fun with.

 

[ArcanePunkster]

Usually, I look at whether my current works have an expanded universe that I can work on. If so I then ask my readers whether they'd be interested in reading more based on that universe, it could anything like an event or a certain character. I do this before even thinking of working on something different.

 

[Ral]

So, I've been writing a story I've been really enjoying, and I love writing it thus far - but as I continue to go ahead, it's likely that my story will be properly brought to a finish within the next few months. I already have an ending planned out for it, but my issue is - I'm still stuck debating what story idea to write next.

I've got two ideas at the moment, and I can't quite decide which one I want to do more. So, I was just wondering how you peeps determine what you'd write next.

Do you ask readers of your other fictions, do you try to see which would have more mainstream appeal, or do you try to write whichever one you think you'd be more comfortable with? Feel free to let me know!

You can work on both. It is not uncommon for writers to work on multiple projects at the same time (and if you are writing professionally, then you are going to work on multiple projects at the same time).

I don't mean that you publish both at the same time. You can publish one now while working on the other in the background.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

I always go with the one I'm comfortable with and tweak it a bit to go with the mainstream taste.

Though not too much because it might end up becoming cliche, or lose its identity over other stories out there

 

[BenJepheneT]

I have 3 ideas going on, and I'm only writing one. I value my ideas and treat them like a once in a while gift from the Holy Author God. I focus primarily on the thing I'm currently writing, and slowly build up the other two as I go. By the time I, hypothetically, finish my first idea, I'd have a headstart on the next.

I don't want anything I do to end up half baked or just not up to my standards. Call me a petty perfectionist, I guess.

 

[K5Rakitan]

I only have time to continue my current story, but if I didn't have a husband to cook for and lovers to talk to (I won't risk seeing my lovers in person during the pandemic), I would probably write more. I have multiple relationships, so I don't have time for multiple stories.

As it stands, if it's a really good idea, I might jot down notes and consider doing something about those notes a few years from now.

 

[Saileri]

I started writing down my story around mid-May and thought I will stick to only it for loooooooong, since I had it in my head for years. But like 2 weeks later I got an insane idea that I just couldn't ignore and started writing that one down on the side, actually focusing on it more than the original first story, because I feel like it's more fun and different than the usual adventuring one I planned. THEN, just a week ago, during one of the exams, an inspiration dawned on me about an interactive story that could have an interesting mechanic, more focused on my ability to write than readers choosing the action. In this case, I only restrain myself to taking some notes and polishing the details, but I have a feeling that at some point all 3 of those stories are gonna be up

I still had some other ideas around, but none that would make me go "holy shit this sounds so fun, I have to do this now". So, I guess I just go with what feels fun and interesting to me. I thought about focusing on one, but I really felt bad abandoning any great ones I thought of. I couldn't decide between 1st and 2nd but in the end, the 1st one became the side one while focus went to the 2nd one.

If you feel like the stories are different enough and that you can manage to keep up with both, go for it. Perhaps experiment with publishing schedules.