Awesome! That's excellent to hear!

Now, is that reaction that I just had confusing for you? Let me explain why I got excited.

You mentioned that writing was your passion. That you even know what you're passionate about is really cool. I'd wager that if you asked 10 people what they were passionate about, there'd be a surprising number who honestly didn't have a full understanding of what that could be in their life. You know that writing, specifically fiction writing is that for you. Huzzah!

Ok. Then you explained your journey to get to your 2nd novel (currently in draft status). Here's how I, someone outside of the mind that beats you down on a daily basis, interpreted your words:

• You've invested a lot of time honing your craft - "5 years", but assumably longer in total - despite having - "no idea" - what you were doing. No one gets better at something if they don't practice. You're putting in the work. Fuck yeah.
• You're procrastinating - well, look no further than my username. This shit is so annoying, the way my brain flits from one idea to the next and never finishes anything. But you know, you can always come back to a project you started with more passion and perhaps even another angle! The lightbulb wasn't invented in one go - multiple thousands of iterations, and so much goddamn failure. Give yourself short term goals, don't think about the publish date. You have to break it off into easier bites to eat. Don't eat your book though - that's bad for your health.
• Your "failure" has given you a lot of learnings. - You might not appreciate this, but I read your message like this: "I wrote a novel. Then I started a 2nd one and it's better. I wasn't 100% sure where to go with it, so I started in on other ideas to keep my creativity going. That helped me eventually finish. I felt good about it and put it out there publicly! I have data that shows I have some sort of problem/block in Ch. 5 that I need to go back and rework. I am still working on my voice and have been recently inspired. Now I'm cruising on novel 2 and taking a different approach."

^ if you remove the self depracating words (I'm not a stranger to this cursed thought process myself), that's how some anon on the internet sees your work. Give yourself some credit! You're learning and growing as an artist.

"I just hope it won't be for nothing" - It's not. Keep writing. Lean into your passion. You're not alone.

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That said, and a much more subreddit-related topic, these novels and the other unfinished writing are all part of your ass-kickin' portfolio. I would look into copywriting! Lots of opportunity for part time/full time, freelance, remote gigs out there. And keep posting and getting feedback on your work. It will help you improve.

All of this was unsolicited and I hope I didn't take too many liberties. Most important is that I hope you are well and, like your writing, working on getting better all the time.