In the past, I have heard of a story as a string of pearls. While I was creating a story that was to be about 20 minutes long, I was finding that I was getting caught on the length of the string of pearls. I was questioning what parts of the story were really needed to meet the objective of my story. I realized the story I was trying to create was more of an interchangeable necklace. Unlike the string of pearls, I realized I could make the story longer, or shorter; change out the events in the story, like a pendant and decide which parts I want to share or hold back depending on my audience. A story naturally changes as the storyteller matures and changes in life. I found that as a storyteller, I needed to expand on my idea of a string of pearls and maybe my pearls were turning into interchangeable pendants. The symbolism of an interchangeable necklace allowed me to stop worrying about the length, and including every detail detail of the story, but rather focus on the structure and which parts I wanted to highlight in my story; just as I would decide on a pendant or two, to wear with an outfit.
I hope this metaphor may encourage storytellers to reflect on their story repertoire and see how many pendants they can find in their stories, to be changed out, to make an old story new again.
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