Possibly, leave the stories behind and stick to building out a scope of work that both you and your client can clearly understand. It doesn't have to be crazy,

Possibly, leave the stories behind and stick to building out a scope of work that both you and your client can clearly understand. It doesn't have to be crazy, and will most likely take less time than clearing up a rough metaphor to programming, which your client most likely has no interest in understanding. Scopes can be very quickly done, be used in contracts/legal docs and keep both you on the same page.