Three Novel Ideas, One Writing Life: How to Choose Which Project to Focus On
To decide which writing project to focus on when you have several ideas, score each one on six criteria (desire, feasibility, knowledge of the genre, readership, expected energy at 30,000 words, possible exit), keep the highest scorer as your active project, leave the second one fallow and drop the third without regret. The question "which one should I write?" has no general answer; it has a grid. Here it is, applied to three invented ideas, with the rule that goes with it.
The six-criteria grid
Each criterion is scored from 0 to 3. The three ideas in the example belong to a fictional author who has four hours a week.
| Criterion | "The Sein Lighthouse" (historical novel, 1890) | "White Night in Lyon" (contemporary crime) | "The Hanging Gardens" (fantasy trilogy) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desire: I think about it without meaning to | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Feasibility: I can write it with my time and means | 1 (heavy research) | 3 | 1 (three volumes) |
| Knowledge of the genre: I have read a lot of it | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Readership: I know who it is for | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Energy at 30,000 words: I will still want it in the middle | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Possible exit: I can see how it will be read | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Total | 12 | 16 | 9 |
The crime novel wins, and it is not the idea she preferred. That is the point of the grid: desire counts for one sixth, not for everything.
What each criterion measures
Desire is the one criterion everybody overscores. Ask the question differently: do I think about it in the shower, or do I like the idea of thinking about it? An idea that comes back on its own scores 3. An idea you find brilliant when you tell it to someone scores 1.
Feasibility crosses the time you have with what the project demands. A historical novel demands research; a trilogy demands three times the length of a novel. At four hours a week, both of those projects are counted in years, which is not disqualifying, but has to be known. If you are already hesitating over the format, the question of volume is covered in short story or novel: which to write first.
Knowledge of the genre is often underestimated. Writing in a genre you have barely read means reinventing codes the reader already knows, and disappointing them without realising.
Readership is not a marketing question, it is a question of address: who are you writing this scene for? If the answer is "everyone", the score is 1.
Energy at 30,000 words is the predictive criterion. Every idea is exciting in chapter 1. The question is: when the middle arrives, with its unglamorous chapters, will this project have enough in reserve? An idea whose middle you already know (not just the opening and the ending) scores 3. The middle is where novels stop, as laid out in how to finish a novel: where writers actually quit.
Possible exit asks you to picture the finished book: sent to agents, published online, given to ten readers. If no image comes, the project lacks an ending in the real world, and that gets paid for in the last chapter.
The rule: one active, one fallow, never three
The grid gives you an order. The rule tells you what to do with it.
The first becomes the active project: the only open file, the only word goal, the only curve. The second is fallow: a notes document, a sheet, where you drop whatever comes to you without ever writing a chapter. The third is closed. Not shelved "for later", closed: if the idea is good, it will come knocking again, and you will rescore it then.
Why never three? Because three projects share four hours a week, which gives each of them a pace too slow to get through the middle. Two half-written novels make zero novels. The fallow field exists so the second idea does not die, without stealing sessions from the first.
Sagoræ pushes in that direction with a deliberate constraint: the Discovery plan holds a single novel. That is not a limitation, it is the rule above made physical: one active project, one hub, one curve. The fallow project fits in a notebook.
When to rescore
Three occasions. When the active project is finished, obviously. When it has been stalled for more than three months, in which case the question is not "which one" but "should I go back to it", and the method is in how to get back to a novel you abandoned years ago. And when none of the three ideas scores above 10 out of 18: in that case, the problem is not the choice, it is the stock, and you are better off starting again from how to find a novel idea than forcing a middling one.
Frequently asked questions
Should you pick the idea you love most? Not necessarily. Desire counts for one criterion out of six; a less-loved idea that is feasible, in a genre you know, has a better chance of getting finished.
Can you write two novels at the same time? One active and one fallow, yes. Two active projects share the same hours and usually both stop in the middle.
What do you do with the idea you drop? Close it, with no note and no folder. If it is good, it will come back on its own, and you will rescore it with the grid at that point.
If you want a single hub for your active project, with its outline, its sheets and its curve, Sagoræ offers a free trial, no card required.
✒️ Read next: How to Finish a Novel: Where Writers Actually Quit, and How to Get Past It · How to Get Back to a Novel You Abandoned Years Ago: A 7-Day Method · How to Write a Novel While Working Full Time: Three Real Schedules
Write your novel in a real workshop: a focused editor, characters, story structure and AI coaches that guide you without writing for you. Start for free, no commitment.