Pillars of the Earth

A friend highly recommended a book called "Pillars of the Earth" a few months ago and I decided to listen to it on my iPod. After my NaNo in November needed a mental break from thinking about plotlines and characters as I drove to work. If I would've picked up "Pillars" from a bookstore shelf and started in on it, I would've put it down after a while. It's around 900 pages and the audio book is 40 hours long, whereas most are 15 to 20. I kept on listening since my friend raved about it so much. Now I'm well over halfway through it and am glad I didn't quit listening to it. The author, Ken Follett, does a tremendous job of weaving a complex tale of building a cathedral in twelfth century England.
I don't usually outline my stories very deeply, but have seen in "Pillars" how an outline could be of great benefit, provided I could stick to one. Stephen King, my favorite author, doesn't use outlines on his first drafts and he has written thousand page books that have been interesting throughout. I guess that proves that every author has his/her unique style. I like to know where I'm going in a story, either a short story or a 50,000 word NaNo, by the time I'm halfway through it. I just don't usually know how I'll get there.
I'll read more of Ken Follett's books in the future, as I will Stephen King's. I could do worse than to emulate aspects of writing from both of them.