Yesterday I tried outlining a couple of ideas to try to get an idea of how long each book would run if written. I realized my original top choice plot in mind might actually become a saga and decided to try considering other ideas that would run less than 1000 pages. The original idea, when outlined, came out to be about 70 chapters. Unless I figure out a way to condense it so I can finish it by springtime, I'm going to look into novella plots instead. I was thinking about writing an allegory instead in a dystopian setting. It might touch on religion, though, so I don't know if I'm willing to pursue any controversial topics on that end. I know if I go with this one, it will probably concern a challenge to age-old tropes and prejudices, like the association of good with light, and bad with darkness, or religious symbolism. If my outline doesn't change too much, this one should come out to just about 20 chapters at most, which is definitely doable by springtime I think.