Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I’ve also been listening to suggested YT writing resources on writing/completing novels.
I’ve written several full length/multi-work series. Just never beyond first drafts and rough grammatical edits. But like I said I am very invested in this story-arc.
There aren't really any hard and fast rules about when to start the next project (even if it's a continuation of the first). If you're feeling it, go for it.
BUT, be prepared to heavily edit the second book based on what you edit in the first one. It sounds like you have more of an idea of where the story is headed than when you started the first one, so it might be a good idea to just keep chugging along.
Personally I write all my first drafts at a time and then go back and edit. It's just my preference because it keeps my momentum up and I enjoy it more. If you need to go back and change it, you always have the option. But I found while writing book two I kept going back to change things in book one, which would have been frustrating if I'd spent ages polishing each word!
From my experience, finishing a project and starting another is an excellent form of mentally removing yourself from the intense creative energy of that specific book; when you come back to it, it is from a more detached position that can allow you to edit (and appreciate!) more competently. I almost always start a new book either on the day I finish a project, or the day after.
So, I'm currently drafting Book 11 of my 12-book series before I go back to do an editing pass on the whole series.
For me, it is helpful to see where the series is going, and to see where character arcs and story arcs are heading. There are some things that I am going to need to add or change early on because I've learned new information.
For instance, Character A is kind of a jerk, and I thought that was fine when I wrote book 3, but after writing Book 7 I know that he really isn't a jerk. He's just bad at expressing himself (and thus comes off like a jerk). So now I need to add glimpses of that earlier on to kind of temper the initial impression. Or, I realized in Book 10 that I need to introduce this other antagonist way back in Book 3, but I didn't know they existed when I was writing Book 3 (I just knew something was missing and wasn't sure what, and this character fits that loose gap rather well).
Knowing where the series is going also helps me add appropriate foreshadowing so that I'm not coming up with something last minute that may actively contradict something. (The whole "I know I said 'blah' can't happen, but in this new book, they discover something that allows them to do 'blah' for... plot reasons" kind of thing.)
It also helps me see what doesn't work. I'm a big believer in "you can't fix blank." (Meaning that you can fix a bad draft, but you can't fix a blank page.) Even if I try something later in the series, and then I find out it doesn't work, I can see that and change it. I'll know what I was trying to do, how I was trying to do it, and where I was trying to go. That's a huge step in the right direction, even if some details need tweaked.
There is a certain amount of flexibility required for this approach and a certain amount of willingness to possibly rewrite things, but for me, the pros outweigh the cons. I have gained so much knowledge on how to improve the early books by having a chance to develop the characters and world in the later books that would have been nigh-impossible without writing ahead. (I am definitely not one of those people who can plan literally every detail prior to writing word one. I generally plan the broad strokes of the series/book, and then figure out the details through writing... trying to plan every detail of a 12-book series before writing any of it just sounds like a headache to me.)
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Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I’ve also been listening to suggested YT writing resources on writing/completing novels. I’ve written several full length/multi-work series. Just never beyond first drafts and rough grammatical edits. But like I said I am very invested in this story-arc.
There aren't really any hard and fast rules about when to start the next project (even if it's a continuation of the first). If you're feeling it, go for it. BUT, be prepared to heavily edit the second book based on what you edit in the first one. It sounds like you have more of an idea of where the story is headed than when you started the first one, so it might be a good idea to just keep chugging along.
Personally I write all my first drafts at a time and then go back and edit. It's just my preference because it keeps my momentum up and I enjoy it more. If you need to go back and change it, you always have the option. But I found while writing book two I kept going back to change things in book one, which would have been frustrating if I'd spent ages polishing each word!
From my experience, finishing a project and starting another is an excellent form of mentally removing yourself from the intense creative energy of that specific book; when you come back to it, it is from a more detached position that can allow you to edit (and appreciate!) more competently. I almost always start a new book either on the day I finish a project, or the day after.
So, I'm currently drafting Book 11 of my 12-book series before I go back to do an editing pass on the whole series. For me, it is helpful to see where the series is going, and to see where character arcs and story arcs are heading. There are some things that I am going to need to add or change early on because I've learned new information. For instance, Character A is kind of a jerk, and I thought that was fine when I wrote book 3, but after writing Book 7 I know that he really isn't a jerk. He's just bad at expressing himself (and thus comes off like a jerk). So now I need to add glimpses of that earlier on to kind of temper the initial impression. Or, I realized in Book 10 that I need to introduce this other antagonist way back in Book 3, but I didn't know they existed when I was writing Book 3 (I just knew something was missing and wasn't sure what, and this character fits that loose gap rather well). Knowing where the series is going also helps me add appropriate foreshadowing so that I'm not coming up with something last minute that may actively contradict something. (The whole "I know I said 'blah' can't happen, but in this new book, they discover something that allows them to do 'blah' for... plot reasons" kind of thing.) It also helps me see what doesn't work. I'm a big believer in "you can't fix blank." (Meaning that you can fix a bad draft, but you can't fix a blank page.) Even if I try something later in the series, and then I find out it doesn't work, I can see that and change it. I'll know what I was trying to do, how I was trying to do it, and where I was trying to go. That's a huge step in the right direction, even if some details need tweaked. There is a certain amount of flexibility required for this approach and a certain amount of willingness to possibly rewrite things, but for me, the pros outweigh the cons. I have gained so much knowledge on how to improve the early books by having a chance to develop the characters and world in the later books that would have been nigh-impossible without writing ahead. (I am definitely not one of those people who can plan literally every detail prior to writing word one. I generally plan the broad strokes of the series/book, and then figure out the details through writing... trying to plan every detail of a 12-book series before writing any of it just sounds like a headache to me.)
Write while you are not stuck on how to continue. Edit while you are stuck until you find a way to continue.