What on earth is going on at NaNoWriMo HQ? Here's a high level summary compiled by an anonymous community member.
Region/USA/MN/Saint Cloud
The USA :: Minnesota :: St. Cloud region is a NaNoWriMo region covering the metropolitan area of St. Cloud and the surrounding municipalities.
History
The region was created in 2004 at the request of CallipygianKing. Previously it had been part of the USA::Minnesota::Elsewhere region, but the ML was in the southeastern corner of the state, an inconvenient distance from St. Cloud.
Traditions
Write-Ins
In the early years of the region, write-ins were commonly held at the Barnes & Noble cafe. More recently, write-ins have been held at the St. Cloud Library and hosted by librarians participating in NaNoWriMo.
Mascot
Starting in 2003, before the region was officially incorporated, the group of NaNoWriMo participants adopted Bronson Pinchot as their mascot and adapted the catch phrase of his character from the mid1980's sitcom Perfect Strangers. A poorly doctored photo of Pinchot holding a sign that read "50,000 or burst" was displayed at every write-in from 2003 until 2005. It is still in the possession of former ML CallipygianKing and makes occasional appearances at write-ins in the USA::Minnesota::Twin Cities region.
Regional Stats
- 2014: 134 novelists; 3,068,324 words written; 22,897 average wordcount
- 2015: 131 novelists; 2,449,040 words written; 18,694 average wordcount
- 2016: 132 novelists; 2,277,016 words written; 17,250 average wordcount
- 2017: 116 novelists; 2,296,416 words written; 19,796 average wordcount
- 2018: 105 novelists; 2,009,473 words written; 19,137 average wordcount
- 2019: 121 novelists; 40 winners; 2,877,554 words written[1]
- 2020: 63 novelists; 1,844,390 words written; 29,276 average wordcount[2]
Municipal Liasons
Current ML
- LiztheLittle (2019-present)
- bookwyrm5000 (2020)
Past MLs
- Library Lady - 2006
- CallipygianKing - 2004-2005
- The original ML left for the USA::Minnesota::Twin Cities region due to a career change. He is still actively involved with NaNoWriMo with 6 wins. 2011 is his 10th year as a participant.
- kuke0801 (Kelsey) - 2014-2016
- KissMeAmadeus (2018)
- PierceWannabe (2018)
- no ML (2017)
St. Cloud Region in the Media
- Writers put skills to test: 50,000 words in 1 month - St. Cloud Times, December 2, 2005
- Writers toil over novel ideas - St. Cloud Times, November 22, 2010
- Apps help writers on the go - St. Cloud Times, November 2, 2011
NaNoWriMo Regional Forum Archives
Notes
- ↑ Totals from the NaNo Stats Generator, using the 2019 non-public Word Count API. This data includes everyone who has joined the region (not necessarily homed) but excludes projects not associated with the NaNoWriMo 2019 event, including word counts across multiple projects.
- ↑ Sent from NaNoWriMo HQ, February 2021. Consists of active homed participants who created a NaNoWriMo 2020 project.