I've only learned about this game jam about 12 hours before it started and only started then, and I've never really participated in any before. I think by the end of January, I might only be able to finish a game with a level or two at best.

That is not a problem, the main driver of this jam is to finish something, anything!  That's split between people who want to finish long running projects and those who want to finish their first project.  'Finished' can mean whatever you want it to, the jam is here for motivation and a bit of community, so demos, proof of concepts etc are all fine.