Words of the Barely-Published

The fabulous Margaret has gone and got me working on a *different* novel. I talked to her over tea on Sunday night, and muttered about this thing that I'd been working on a long time ago, and blah blah blah, I was stuck.

And she gave me one Word. It was the Word I needed.

Having acquired this Word, I spent over an hour yesterday starting to outline this thing. It's wandered in so many different directions over the years, and there's so much...well, stuff, in there that doesn't need to be there, and isn't central to the story. (And some of it is really awful.)

Looking at it from a critical perspective too, there're plot holes *galore* in there that need clearing out too, and questions that must be answered in my own head, even if they're not down on paper.

Also, must do research, as one of the two protagonists needs to be Not An American. The other one is from a culture that I am creating, which requires worldbuilding - the culture is a bit too nebulous in my head, and I need to know enough of the relevant bits to clear this up.

But the basic story that I came up with, what, 7 years ago? That is usable. And now I have the necessary Word (word of power!) to make it work.

Because, of course, I really needed *another* novel to work on. :}