For some contestants in this year's national novel writing contest, getting 50,000 words on the page by the end of this month has meant hiding away in libraries, or shutting off cell phones and Internet connections.

The National Novel Writing Month contest drew thousands of Illinois participants this year.

1 of them is Megan Metcalf, a 24-year-old resident of Zion. She's on target to complete the challenge by Friday, but only because she switched off phones and the Internet each weeknight until she had at least 1,667 words down in her novel "Poison Moon," a tale about werewolves.

The literary endurance contest has 250,000 global participants and is aimed at helping them discover their inner storyteller.

Some even go on to publish their work.