Here's the truth about storytellers:

Average storytellers say the first thing that comes to mind.

The first thing that pops into their head.

The most memorable thing.
The funny thing.
The crazy thing.

Great storytellers consider a multitude of options and then make a carefully considered choice that serves the story best.

In order to make a carefully considered choice, you need options.

As many options as possible.

The best way to generate options is by making a list.

The list is one of the most most powerful tools for a storyteller.

I'm working on a story about the F and two D's that received at the end of my sixth grade year and the subsequent deception and subterfuge I used to avoid getting into trouble with my stepfather.

To make the story work, I need my audience to understand how I had spent the past four years trying to win over my stepfather without success.

I have many examples of these attempts, but rather than using the first three examples that come to mind or the three funniest examples, I'm making a list of all the times I can recall when I tried to win over my stepfather and failed.

When the list is complete, I'll choose the three examples that work the best for my story.

I'll try to vary my choices by age, location, length, and context. I'll try to find a funny example and a tragic example.

By making a list, I'm affording myself choices. and that is what storytelling is about:

Making good choices.

• What will I say?
• In what order will I say it?
• How will I say it?

Unlike almost every storyteller I know, I don't write my stories.

Nothing is ever committed to the page.

I craft and revise my stories aloud, working orally and then recording the story when I'm pleased with the results.

But there is one thing that I always write down for every story:

Lists.

Lists of examples and descriptors and anecdotes and comparisons and more, so that I have more, and therefore, better choices to make.

Don't just say the first thing that comes to mind.

Make a list.

Give yourself options.

Then choose the options that serve the story best.