Preface

I was talking to a new friend recently and she mentioned participating in the NaNoWriMo event that takes place every November.  I had seen this when the event started last year and was intrigued, but intimidated because 50,000 words seems like a lot.  Also, I had no idea what to write about.
But I still really like the idea of writing as much as you can as fast as you can because it is always good practice. Plus it doesn't matter about the quality because the whole idea is to just put pen to paper (or keys to screen) and get something out there. You can always go back and edit later, that's the easy part.
During an exceptionally traffic laden commute home last week I struck upon a crazy idea: next week is Spring Break and I have nowhere to go and nothing much to do. Why don't I pare down the idea to something I feel like I can tackle?  Which is where I came up with the idea of WoW: Week of Writing (no, not the MMORPG).  Instead of writing every day for a month, I'll just write every day for a week.  Instead of writing 50,000 words for a novel, I'll just write 10,000 words in a couple of short stories.  We'll call it NaShStWriWe (National Short Story Writing Week, or phonetically: Nasht-rye-wee) :D
Now that I have the idea defined I still have to come up with some topics to write about.  I recently whipped out a short story based on a tale I remember my grandmother telling me when I was a little girl.  It had recently floated to the surface of my brain for some unknown reason and I had been telling it to friends who needed a pick-me-up.  Then suddenly one night I was retelling it in my head because I couldn't sleep and I leapt out of bed to just write it down already.  It came gushing out of me so easily that I was amazed and inspired.  I realized that it came so easily because it was a story that I had been told and had been retelling myself.  In fact we have a strong oral tradition in my family where many stories were told and re-told at family gatherings and reunions.  But as far as I know none of these stories had been written down by anyone.  They were just tall tales we would use to entertain each other when there was no TV around.
So yesterday I sat down and made a list of stories I remember from my childhood.  They are mostly about family members.  Although I will provide a heavy disclaimer that I cannot attest to the accuracy of any of them.  Oral traditions have a tendency towards hyperbole (after all that's what makes them so entertaining).  So if you find yourself the subject of one of these tales and wish to make a correction (or add an embellishment!) please let me know and I will do my best to incorporate any and all feedback.
Wish me luck!