There's something really satisfying about having a nice pile of ribs all ready to go, isn't there?
I had a conversation with one of the other (few) builders in our club. I always build the wing first, because it puts me in far enough that I can't back out when it comes time to do tail feathers & fuse & whatnot. He always does the tail first, because it eases him into the project.
To each their own -- I find a neglected wing hanging on the wall behind my building board to be a huge incentive to get with the program!