While I'm pretty timid to dissagree with Oskaar (especially since I agree with 99% of his post entirely), I think pretty much every mead maker has to go through a period of being unfocussed. Most people's first year (for some people even longer) is spent making, this, that, anything they can.
Until you've been making mead for at least more than a year, the idea of making the same mead repeatedly is very tough. Both because you always have new ideas, and because it simply is impossible for it to have aged long enough for you to even know if it's worked out (any judgements made on a mead before it's had at least a year to age are essentially wild guesses, at least until you've been making it for years and have learned what to expect from aging).
Now, I read that advice about making the same thing over and over from Oskaar early in my mead making, both in other people's threads, and at least once in one of my own when I was going off the deep end trying to making something so different from my previous batches that I would essentially learn nothing from it.
So... not entirely sure what the whole point of this post is! Oskaar's advice to pick a style you think you'll like and start doing it over and over (also I'd recommend making multiple batches at once that are identical except for one variable, what yeast, temp, amount of fruit, etc - I think that can be invaluable) is some of the best advice you can get around here. Starting working on that as soon as possible into your mead making will serve you well.
I took that advice to heart very early and have focussed most of my efforts on just a few styles of mead, 2 in particular. But I guess the point of my post is, that if you're a newb, don't stress too too much about being scientific about it and thinking too far into the future.
Have fun, ferment this that, whatever, but the second you find one you think has potential, start making it over and over, making it in multiple comparison batches at once, etc. That's my version of Oskaar's advice anyways!
(I guess I started this post thinking I was dissagreeing with him, turned out I was just adding my own spin on it based on the meadmaker's experience... )
EDIT: Right, think I realized what I'd meant to say originally - wanted to reassure Oskaar that that piece of advice doesn't fall of deaf ears necessarily, just that when he gives that advice to someone who hasn't been making mead for longer than a year at least it's pretty difficult for them to follow it right away, but later when they mellow out I'll bet the remember his advice and are glad they got it!
