I have no idea where to ask this question, so I hope it's okay here. I'm planning to write a duology, and this might seem like a silly question, but I was wondering if it's actually recommended to write one book immediately after the other. Obviously, if they ever got published, I would publish them one after another and not release a completely unrelated story in between. But, while my first draft of my first book "composts" and I turn my attention to planning another, should I really be planning the second? Or should I keep my thoughts away from it entirely and write something else until I go back and look at the first draft of Book 1 again?
For me, it would be useful to stay immersed in the world and go ahead and write the second book while it's still fresh in my mind. If you're sick of the story and need some time to refresh yourself, this might not work, but it's what I'd do. I think there's often been advice against writing later books in a series before the first book sells (because it may not sell, in which case you've wasted a lot of time writing more of something that no one will ever read) but from your "I would publish them" line I assume you're considering self-publishing, in which case you'll be the one who decides if the first book sees the public. (Of course, there's no guarantee the public will see it... but I guess that's a chance you'd have to take!)
I'm considering everything. I hadn't actually thought of that, though. Fair point. But, one way or another, I intend on putting both books out there, audience or no. (Although it would be helpful if I wasn't my only reader ). So, hopefully the second book won't be too big a time-waster. I will probably do as you say and write it straight after the first, then, if you don't think it would damage the composting of the first while it was buried in a draw somewhere and waiting to be edited.
I guess it might depend on how you write - like, if you expect you're going to be making a LOT of changes to the first one, then maybe it does make sense to wait... you can figure out what the changes should be, re-immerse yourself in the world while you're making the changes, and then go on to book 2. For me, I don't generally make huge changes after the first draft so I might as well charge on, but that's just one way of doing it. No firm answers. Sorry!
I'm currently on book one of my "planned" (if I ever get there) trilogy, and at the moment, I'm of the opinion that I'd like to stay in the 'world' and write number 2 and then 3, but then I think it'll depend how I feel once I have finished book 1. If it became difficult/a drag, I'd probably consider a break, come back refreshed and ready to go.
I wouldn't start on book 2 until book 1 was edited, locked, and in the can (as they saw in film). Just getting one book to make sense is hard enough without having the narrative drag of a second WIP affecting the outcome of the first. You've got nothing without a book 1, so until that's locked there's nothing else to write about in my opinion.
It can be convenient to be able to go back and change things in Book 1, though. If a great idea comes to you and you could make it work if only things had been a bit different in the first book.... And you can throw in foreshadowing and fun hints, too!
I am on my sequel in a Duology, and I often times go back to the first to keep continuity and other small things and details correct. Though the first one is rotting some where out there in the Kindle-verse. I find it best to follow it up fairly quickly on the heels of the last, just to keep it fresh in my mind. However if I happen to want and throw out a short, or collection of shorts then it will not be the end of the world either.
I am personally someone who dabbles in the art of writing two things at once, and it works for me. If I get writers block on one I just go to the other for a bit. I'm also the type of person that can "exist" in two worlds at once since my stories have been engrained in my mind for a good 2 or 3 years. Really it's just what works for you. If you feel like you will be able to work on two then you should go ahead. If you start and you feel like it's taking away from the first them you should dip out and continue on with the first. There are obvious advantages to doing this too. As @BayView said you could throw in foreshadowing and hints. That's personally my favorite thing to do. This also gives you the chance to cross reference things. You can see if you have addressed certain things in the first that are needed to understand the second. You could add little easter eggs in the first that leads to something humerous or something like that. You can make sure that things make sense when you go from the first to the second. In the end it is your decision and what works best for you. If it's writing both at the same time, then go for it.
When you say composting, I assume you are basically done, but you're giving the worms and bacteria in your brain time to eat and digest from memory the familiarity of your writing, so at a later date, you can edit with a newer perspective. Is this correct? If so, what do you plan on doing in the meantime? Not write? If you've got the second book outlined and ready to go, you might as well write it. Unless you have something better to do.
Yeah, that's basically what I mean - having some time away from the book so that some of the errors jump out at me when I return. I would be writing.
In my opinion, I would continue with book 2. I wrote and self-published my first book, and while book 2 is in the writing process I am promoting book 1, which is very time consuming. People who have enjoyed book 1 are chasing me for the follow up and it would have been useful to have had the 2nd one finished or near completion so that I could get it out there reasonably soon after book 1. I also think it's easier to promote 2 books together as I am often asked 'what else have you written?'
I just recently completed my first draft of a crime novel, a police procedural which I want to be the first of a series of novels involving the same protagonist. As I was finishing the draft, I immediately thought of an idea for the next book in the series, one that incorporates part of a story that I had written as one of my early attempts at a novel. So, as I'm fact-checking and editing my first story, I'm sketching out ideas for the second so that when the time comes to pitch the first, I will be able to say that it has the potential to be the first book in a series and that Book Two is already being written.