crazy - i didn't know a non-Hebrew speaker would even be aware of the nikudot...

that may be, but when I tell people that I'm used to reading Hebrew in newspapers and what have you without vowels, I get a funny look...

What about option 5?

Leave the entire issue alone until after November 30/50,000 words, whichever comes first.

Build the house, William. Then decide whether you want lined damask drapes, drapes with voile sheers, K-Mart blue-light special bedsheets, or Levolor miniblinds. Do not waste energy worrying about the window treatments when you should be framing the house. Build the windows, make them standard size, and the rest will follow in due course.

Now get writing!

I was going to start writing and explain that I was sorry, because I hadn't realized that nailing down the exact format of the writing system right now was so critical to the plot.

(To world building, yes, to the plot, no. I would seem to me that the two points:
1. that there is a writing system, and
2. that it's capable of being encrypted
would be sufficient to the plot.)

At that point, pick one, and if it doesn't work, change it in revisions. Yes, I realize that it wouldn't be as simple as a global search and replace. But for the purposes of just getting the story down, the details seemed less critical than the broad brushstrokes.

I was mistaken, and I apologize for the tone of my earlier comment.

Now, here's where you wrecked a bee-you-tee-full apology. I was distracted last night, and missed much of the discussion in chat about this. In particular, I looked at the aforementioned tanelos entry, but didn't get a chance to read it in any depth.

I was going to reread it this morning. I can't. You've edited it.

And proved you have tenure.