I know I am. Even as a writing exercise, its good to keep up with each step of the competition. Last year, even though I was not one of the 32, I still worked up a nation, a villain, three thematically-linked monsters, etc., just to stay on my game and see how I compared to the competing entries. I didn't post these anywhere; they were just for me. Still, I am working on ideas for a villain; obviously, I can't post anything yet. I'm curious who else is working on ideas for the next phase already, and why you're doing it.