NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month - which the rest of the world does in November, but I am choosing to do in February - was begun in 1999 by Chris Baty and friends. 21 of them rashly set out to write a novel in one month. It seemed a good idea at the time, says Baty, disarmingly. 6 of them made the target of 50,000 words (also known as winning). The second year 140 people signed up and 29 won. By 2003 more than 25,000 participants in 30 countries took part. By 2010 200,000 people around the world took on this mad creative writing challenge!
Check it out at www.nanowrimo.org or on Wikiepedia.
..and I am, more or less, on target with 29,625 words and counting....
It's getting harder!