I just finished Chapter 1 this morning, and quit the game shortly after killing the Cockatrice in the sewers. Now, I am not so sure I want to keep going. I think some of this may come from completing Chapter 1 and that being almost an entire game in itself. I got an easy 5-6 hours out of it alone, loved the fairly large self-contained story that took place with the origins of The Beast but now I just am not sure I have the drive to continue. I also think the gameplay itself contributes to this.

CDPR did I brilliant job of translating the short story format of the original books into the game, but at this point I cannot say that I am all that excited to *play* another four chapters of The Witcher 1. Do any experienced players have ways that they have found to remedy this, or should I just migrate my casual-ass to the subsequent games?

I think the game gets a lot better in Chapter 2! Chapter 1 felt like a second tutorial, which was great for me as an RPG noob. But now you've got a city to explore, several new characters (Siegfried from the sewers will be back!), a silver sword, dozens of quests, and more importantly, decisions that start having consequences.

It also gets huuuge, in all aspects. Be prepared to spend hours and hours going around the place. In my opinion the story is superb and totally worth to continue playing. But if you feel it's not for you, you can always stop. It's not like you cannot continue later (I know someone who plays The Witcher games like this, stopping at the beginning of a new chapter/zone and playing a short point-and-click to change the pace).

I got exactly this feeling on my first playthrough, and actually put the game down for a year or so. When I picked it up again I played through from the start once again, but took a more completionist attitude to it. I think one of the difficulties I faced when I got through to chapter 2 was that I hadn't really beaten chapter one. Most of the enemies were still a bit too tough because I hadn't really learned how to optimise combat. I also found the freedom quite overwhelming when you've got so many options of who to talk to, especially given that you're aware that getting a conversation wrong / not how you wanted it to go can close doors to you.

Next time through I made sure I'd properly learned how to play against the different monsters, and focused lots more on alchemy, which if you're on normal difficulty, you probably managed to get through without using much (except perhaps the spectre oil?). I also pushed on a bit through the initial stages of chapter 2 until it started to get into the story a bit more. I think the initial open nature and lack of direction are the problem at the start. Once you get through the first bit of chapter 2, it feels much more like the first chapter, and from then on you'll probably find the game keeps hold of you.

I have the combat figured out and use alchemy regularly and do not really have an issue with the monsters. I was a completionist with Ch. 1 and powered through the Novitiate Witcher rank. I always have issues with games that are really open and have a lot to do, primarily because the industry is churning out so many these days that when I come across one that is actually good I get exhausted within the first few hours. It helps to have games that are more linear from time to time.
I am going to stick with it regardless, but good god almighty will it be rough actually playing it. The story is great, no question about that, the game itself makes me wanna put my hands up and shout.
I appreciate the replies, I was not sure if anybody would or not.