What elements does the unnamed narrator consider when deciding whether a story or a lecture is more appropriate for the story she has to tell?

In the vignette entitled “Travel Tales," the unnamed narrator wonders whether she should speak in lectures rather than stories. She compares herself to a midwife or a gardener, tending to her stories rather than being “mistress of (her) own text” (212) through lecture. She finally concedes that she is better suited to storytelling, however, since stories have “inherent inertia” and “require people like [her]—insecure, indecisive, easily led astray" (212).