Region/USA/MN/Twin Cities

The USA :: Minnesota :: Twin Cities region is a NaNoWriMo region covering the metropolitan area of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and their surrounding suburbs. The Wrimos there are affectionately known as the Minnows.
The region is traditionally one of the largest (with over 4700 members registered for 2011) and most productive (8th place for 2010 total wordcount) regions in all of NaNoWriMo.
==History==
The Twin Cities region has consistently grown each year and from the initiation of Municipal Liaisons (ML) in 2003 has been a force to be reckoned with. Beyond the MLs though, there are many active participants who invest time and energy during an already busy month to encourage others by hosting dozens of write-ins throughout the Twin Cities and our Iconic Events. If this region was only about the efforts of our MLs, we wouldn't be nearly as successful as we have been, and we have all our members to thank for that.
* In 2004, Nanowrimo founder Chris Baty appeared at the Twin Cities Book Festival to speak and promote his newly released book, "No Plot? No Problem!" Several Twin Cities Wrimos met him at that event, and he was also a guest at the current ML Zan's pre-Nano party in her apartment.
* In 2010 we were a Regional Winner in the great Nanowrimo Book Drive, by a margin of "close-enough," collecting 90-plus boxes for a donation of nearly 3,000 used books. We also were challenged by the Chicago region in both a top 30 wordcount and winners contest, which turned into a somewhat unpleasant and contentious experience, due to the unbelievable word count of one particular Chicago participant; allegations of cheating became downright nasty. Overall, the Twin Cities region finished as the 8th most prolific region in total wordcount for 2010 worldwide.
*Also in 2010, The Great Ice Storm happened on the Saturday night of the 28-Hour Writing Tour (see below). At about 10pm, the city was hit with a freezing rain, that left every outside surface so incredibly slick that walking or driving was almost impossible. Many Wrimos who were home intending to join the Tour at night stayed home, and others already on the Tour were caught in the storm, heading towards Sacred Paths Center (the overnight location). There were many tales of precarious travel, massive delays and accidents that night. And yet the writing continued...
==Iconic events==
* Nina's The Kick-off Party
** Nina's Coffee Cafe has been a gracious host to many TCwrimos events and sets aside the back room (really the front right half) for our raucous gatherings. Great coffee, sandwiches, soup and bakery items. At least one kickoff has been done in full Halloween costume, great fun!!
--Note: For 2013, the kickoff has been relocated to Wilde Roast Cafe due to projected high attendance.
* Mall of America (MOA) IHOP The Countdown to Midnight write-in
** In 2009 SynapticJam came up with the great idea of meeting at an open all-night restaurant and getting a jumpstart on the month right at the bell of midnight. In 2010, this event moved to the IHOP across the street from the Mall of America and expanded from both a month starting countdown to also include a month-ending countdown. Approximately 30 wrimos take over half this restaurant and reports from management are that they love us and want us back.
* The 28-Hour Writing Tour
** The brainchild of CallipygianKing, the 28-hour writing tour is generally held starting 10am either the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of November, through 2pm of the following day. This event was first held in 2007 starting in the western suburb of Hopkins, continuing across town with stops at several cafes/bars/restaurants in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and ending at the Barnes & Noble store at the Mall of America. Participants come to whatever stops they choose, one, many, or all (a few brave souls do all the stops). In 2011, due to the popularity and swelling crowds in attendence, we had to have three separate routes that all converge late Saturday night for a merged group for the final three stops.
* The Thank God It's Over Party (TGIO)
** Our final wrap-up each year in early December. This party has historically been held in various locations: Zan's apartment, Pizza Luce in downtown Minneapolis, the auditorium at The Loft's Open Book Center, Sacred Paths Center, and the Geek Partnership Society.
==Regional Stats==
* 2014: 1,776 novelists; 34,028,032 words written; 19,159 average wordcount
* 2015: 1,798 novelists; 36,145,950 words written; 20,103 average wordcount
* 2016: 1,681 novelists; 29,882,494 words written; 17,776 average wordcount
* 2017: 1,616 novelists; 31,610,968 words written; 19,561 average wordcount
* 2018: 1,593 novelists; 31,562,061 words written; 19,812 average wordcount
* 2019: stats unavailable2019's totals, when available, were provided through a third-party tool using the non-public Word Count API. This region was large enough to overload the tool.
* 2020: 1,042 novelists; 22,439,741 words written; 21,535 average wordcountSent from NaNoWriMo HQ, February 2021. Consists of active homed participants who created a NaNoWriMo 2020 project.
==Municipal Liaisons==
===Current MLs===
* margiepearl (2017-present)
* expatrie (2018-present)
* raider.titan (2019-present)
* distwist (2020)
===Past MLs===
* Zan - (2003-2004)
* Sapphirestar - (2005-2010)
* Bookwrm - (2005-2007) 
* NellMorningStar - (2008-2011)
* Gwenn - (2011 - 2013)
** I started Nano on a whim in 2006, and haven't stopped since. I've been involved in the area since 2008, and every year I'm thrilled to recognize so many people, and meet new NaNo writers. For me, NaNo is that golden chance to vomit words onto a page without worrying about quality or coherence.
* Mreauow - (2011- 2016) 
** I first attempted NaNo in 2007 with a 70,000 word bit of back story. Since then I've won every year and even completed all the stories I've tried. I decided to step up to be an ML when I realized that many people already thought I was one.
* lazylaura87 (2015-2016)
* aurora17 - (2014- 2017)
* enarsonist (2017)
* Fantasy Fictioneer (2018-2019)
* rudeandnotginger (2018-2019)
==Media==
*Over the years, local NaNoWriMo participants have been featured in the media, regarding the fascinating subject of National Novel Writing Month. Articles have appeared in the Star Tribune, Metro Magazine, Minnesota Public Radio () and others.
==Notes==
==External Links==
* Official Twin Cities page on NaNoWriMo
* Official Twin Cities forum on NaNoWriMo
* TCwrimos Yahoo Group -- keep in touch with region happenings throughout the year. This is a closed group, to avoid spam, so you'll need to register for a free Yahoo account, and put in a simple request to join the group.
* Google Calendar of Events
Category:Minnesota regions
Category:Bookdriving regions