I have 152 WIPs. Well, 153 as I forgot there's one I haven't added to the spreadsheet yet.
I don't have an audience clamoring for more of anything, so using that as a factor in determining what to write next doesn't work.
That narrows the choices down to what I want to write and what might actually maybe possibly actually sell this time. Another factor that goes into it is finishing what I start and not jumping from project to project as that's the sort of thing that puts you in a position of having 153 WIPs.
Right now, I am trying to finish up a fantasy adventure and also a space opera. The space opera was supposed to be a standalone but I've recently figured out how it could be a series, so that means I might have to add a 154th WIP, although I'll probably wait to see if the space opera actually sells first before committing to doing a series.
As for what to write next, I'm not 100% certain. I am definitely going to finish the aforementioned fantasy adventure and space opera novels before moving on to anything else. Once I finished those, my plan had been to work on a time travel adventure series, the first book of which was supposed to be released in time for Halloween for I don't know how many years now. The other option was a paranormal detective series. But lately I've been wanting to work on a space adventure series I started over thirty years ago.
It is interesting how priorities change. Way back when, I started some of these things and I liked the characters and stuff so much that I set them aside until the day came when I became a better writer so I could give them their due and really bring them to life like a proper writer should. And then I created new stuff, and the new stuff became more important to me. So my advice to prospective writers would have been to finish what you start because you'll probably find that you care more about the latest idea you come up with than your older ideas. So finish them while you enjoy them and keep moving on.
But now I find myself more drawn to those older (unfinished) stories and characters and wanting to work on them. It's like there are these beings that have been living in my head all these years and it's time to share them with the world.
Of course, maybe I would feel differently if I had finished those stories way back when instead of putting them off for so long.
On the other hand, a number of those stories written way back then were really, really bad, so perhaps there was some merit to my younger self's idea of waiting until I was a better writer.
Then again, I read through stuff I've written recently and think, well, I'm still not there yet.
Maybe I should have been a plumber. Machines can flip burgers and bots can write stories, but it's probably going to be a while yet before androids are available to come over and fix your leaky pipes. Plus, you know, water and electricity don't get along.