Abandon ship!

I don't like to abandon a book once I've started writing it. (Heck, I don't even like to abandon books I've started reading.) I will plow through the first draft at least before deciding whether to spend the time and effort in revising it. However, I made a decision this week to stop working on a novel in progress. That novel was meant to be the first book in a new YA Fantasy series that I hinted about in February. After months of working on it, I'm no more than a quarter of the way through, based on my story outline.

Why am I going to stop working on this book? I can think of a few reasons:

1. There are other, more interesting ideas I want to write. This comes up with every book I'm working on, so by itself, it wouldn't make me abandon a story. It's easy for a new shiny object to catch your eye, but up to now, I've had the discipline to continue with the project at hand until the first draft is completed.
2. Writing a series is intimidating. Since this is the first time I've embarked on writing a series of novels, I admit that the idea scares me a little. I've outlined the plot of the first book, but I only have rough ideas of what will happen in books 2 and 3. As a result, I've found myself paralyzed when making decisions, wondering how they will affect events in subsequent books.
3. I'm weaving three characters' stories into one, which is more complex than I thought. There are three protagonists in this series, and I'm alternating between their points of view with each new chapter. While I've outlined what each character will experience, having one chapter flow seamlessly into the next without jarring the reader has given me some headaches.

All three reasons are obstacles that I can overcome, but the combination of them has sapped my interest in continuing with the book. I'm going to shift gears and select another story idea to work on. My hope is that, after finishing a different book, I'll have a fresh perspective on this series because I do want to eventually finish it. Whether that will be in a few months or next year is hard to say right now. If anyone out there was looking forward to reading the series, I'm afraid that you will have to wait a bit longer for it.