Hello,
I have been writing two stories back to back for the last year and I am stuck on whether I want to finish one or the other because my mind is wrapped around both of them so tightly, it’s hard to discern the importance of one over the other.
One is a Sci-Fiction and the other, a children’s story.
Any tips and or, advice?
Measures you could use are:
Bottom line? It depends on why you write. Only you can really answer the question(*).
If all else fails, follow the advice of Johnny Depp: If you find yourself loving two women at the same time, go with the second… because if you’d really loved the first you wouldn’t have noticed the other one.
* - Except I’ll do it anyway: Go with the Sci Fi one. Unless the children’s story has dinosaurs in it, in which case do that one first instead.
I would ask “why does it matter which is finished first?” Just work on both until one or the other is done.
If you have a deadline for either then your decision is made. If you have a deadline on both then the decision is made. If you have no deadline then just enjoy both of them.
As piggy said, the external factors of profitability are your metrics for commercial success. If this isn’t a commercial venture then just have fun.
He didn’t really say that, but he meant too.
Seriously: what are these sagas about?
I’ll let you know which one I want to read first 
One of the main issues is that… I have been cultivating these stories for 5 years now.
The children’s story is pretty short, but I’ve rewritten it several times in hope of achieving the right POV and the right writing style for it.
The Science Fiction is about 500 pages or so and it goes on and on, same goes for this one, I’ve gone through some serious reworking.
the brutal truth… probably neither.
you,ve worked on them both for 5 years.
you,ve rewritten one several times
the other goes on and on -and- has had some serious reworking.
it sounds like it,s time to cut yourself some slack, draw a line under what you,ve done as quickly as possible and pat yourself on the back for completing your first two works. then start thinking about your third.
the two biggest psychological barriers which stop talented writers from achieving their potential are…
1 - realising that when they’ve finished their first draft it needs to be edited / rewritten.
2 - realising that you could edit and tinker forever, and should probably move on after 2-3 passes.
congratulations on making it past the first. you are halfway there.
don,t forget to set up the video camera.
COUSIN!!! 
Cus Fluff
Surely that’s why I like dogs better… 
Maybe you have a point though Floss; tough love is tough love, is tough love! 8)
dogs are affection whores
i mean that in the nicest possible way, of course
i,m not saying that cotm,s 2 works aren,t great. they may well be. i,m saying that it sounds like she is too close to them to know that they are done… she has taken them as far as she can and should move onto the next thing.
don,t be george lucas, is what i,m saying.
Hey!! 
Er… wait… was that a compliment? 
Yes, don’t be George Lucas.
Floss’s main point is valid: (potential) lack of objectivity. If your mind is, as you say, so tightly wrapped around them both how can you have the objectivity to know if either are done or, if not, how best to finish them? Perhaps now is the time to let them sit for a while. At the very least this allows time for some objectivity to creep back in and it may also help you identify which one is more important to you.
Even better, send them both to an editor for feedback. Be aware that this will likely come with a cost (and not just a financial one), but the payoff will be better in the long run.
if this is something you are considering (sometimes helpful if your friends have a habit of telling you what they think you want to hear) and can stand the brutality then you are welcome to message me through this forum
A lot of the reason I have been somewhat of procrastinator of sorts, is for last three years my mother struggled with multiple myeloma.
She passed June 1st 2013.
All she ever wanted me to do is finish it. Finish what I started. To never run from what ever destruction or beauty I created on my own.
“Don’t ever run, don’t ever turn away from what you have created, your family and those you love. No matter the cost.”
Near the end, my mother had a lot of good things to share and some of that I have shared with you, the other half is … still processing. “Failure to accumulate data. Check hard disks.”
I do believe that Time leaves me breathless yet again, as I ascend into the uprising of all that is left of the end.
I find the simple rhythm of things to be… not without justification, and more or less a product of an ever changing world; a confluence of all that is eventual.
firstly, i am sorry for your loss.
i have to say that i agree with your mother. being someone who finishes what they start is where character comes from. it,s at the root of every single one of man,s most awe-inspiring inventions - my personal favourite being the electric can opener - and a defining quality in anyone i,ve ever admired.
remember, though, that not recognising when something is done, and keeping yourself in a never-ending loop of feedback and revision is just as much a barrier to finishing as any form of procrastination. it keeps you from finishing what you are working on. it prevents you from finishing unknown numbers of future works.
my advice: if only because it is shorter, then continue with the children,s story and work to bring it to a conclusion. while you are looking at that, get external input from someone whose opinion you trust on the scifi one. an experienced and importantly independent eye can often help you see the structures, hidden themes or missing piece of magic that brings everything together.