I fancied myself a writer, years ago. More (not very good) image than substance. Then, weirdly enough (maybe "strangely enough" is a better phrase), my writing style improved..after repentance. This, despite all sorts of potentially crippling psychiatric treatment. God is good!
Anyway, I remember reading about and almost participating in NaNoWriMo--National Novel Writing Month, something like that. There might be groups in your area, there are definitely groups online. I'm looking into it this year myself, too.