Do you like to hear stories told live? We do!
Or do you have a story to tell and would like help
crafting it to submit for our story concerts?
Contact us about private story coaching
or occasional free workshops.
Flathead Story Concerts curators & hosts:
Barbara & Glenn Schiffman
Email us at story23fvcc@gmail.com
or FOLLOW below to get notices of dates
and Flathead Valley locations for our 2025 events!
Now open for submissions for
2025 Flathead Story Concerts
~ We are planning to celebrate "Nat'l Tell a Story Day 2025"
during the week of 4/27/25 - stay tuned for date/place!
Submission deadline for Spring FSCs = 3/1/25
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Inspired by The Moth Radio Hour and PBS-TV's "Stories From the Stage,"
Flathead Story Concerts present true experience essays
from multiple local Tellers. You do not need to be
a professional writer or public speaker to participate.
But you do need a personal story you can tell well!
FSCs are curated and themed spoken word events;
not open-mic storytelling.
Get details on our live Story Concerts
and occasional Spoken Word Story Workshops
at our EVENTS pages or email us at
story23fvcc@gmail.com
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Flathead Story Concerts Sponsors include:
• Authors of the Flathead ~ writers helping writers, free weekly seminars ~ www.authorsoftheflathead.org
• The Bookshelf ~ new books by MT authors + used books in downtown Kalispell ~ www.bookshelfmt.business.site
• Sacred Waters Brewing ~ craft beers, great food & more ~ www.sacredwatersbrewing.com
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If you wish to send us YOUR story for 2025 event consideration,
check out our Submission Guidelines & 2025 Story Themes.
We review ALL submissions in writing
(6-8 minutes tell-time = 900-1200 written words)
before inviting stories for FSC participation.
If you prefer to chat with us about your story first,
call us at 747-238-0038.
Questions? Email us at: story23fvcc@gmail.com
Also read our blog post (below) about what we
mean by "true stories" for Flathead Story Concerts.
Nov
25
Mon, Nov 25 2024, 3:30 pm
Whitefish Community Center
We believe everyone has a story to tell
-- and we want to hear YOURS!
STORYCRAFTING WORKSHOPS (Whitefish MT)
To help potential FSC tellers create and prepare stories
for our 2025 events, we are hosting one more FREE in-person
Spoken Word Storycrafting workshop on Monday 11/25/24
at the Whitefish Community Center (3:30-6:00pm).
See our event posting for details - email or call for more info.
Our free Story Workshops provide tips on story structure
and presentation skills as well as support for preparing
spoken word stories for FSC submission.
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>> THEMES FOR 2025 STORY CONCERTS:
Some of the best stories we've heard are from ordinary folks with
"universal" or extraordinary experiences to share!
Submitted Stories for 2025 should fit one or more of these themes:
* Coming to the Flathead (by birth or by choice, when & how...)
* Starting Over (when, where, how, why)
* Second Chances (when, where, how, why)
* Parents & Teachers (what & how they taught me about life)
* Friends & Enemies (what & how they taught me about life)
* If I Knew Then... (& why that would have made a difference)
* Hard to Believe (astounding but true; can be "supernatural")
* Near Misses (what happened, where, why)
* "Wild Card" (a great true story that doesn't fit above themes)
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SUBMISSION DEADLINE for reviewing stories
for Spring FSCs = 3/1/25
=====
HOW TO SUBMIT:
There is no fee to submit your story.
Email written stories to us at story23fvcc@gmail.com.
Please send as a PDF or Word-docx attachment.
Your story should be between 900-1200 written words.
This equals 6-8 minutes of tell-time.
Before submitting in writing, please practice your story out loud and TIME IT.
Include word count and tell-time plus your full name,
phone and email at the top of your written submission's first page.
+++++
STORY TYPES WE REVIEW & CONSIDER:
* True personal experience essays (YOURS = 1st person)
* Memoir excerpts (a portion of YOUR longer story)
WHAT WE ACCEPT & DO NOT ACCEPT IN CONTENT:
We seek true stories that can inspire and entertain all ages.
They can be serious or humorous, but should be
memorable and (generally) uplifting.
Our events are "family friendly" -- but our stories are
not "anecdotes" or kid-lit tales. They need to have universal appeal
and a message with a clear beginning, middle and conclusion.
True stories should have an opening "hook" and
lead to a conclusion that shares what you learned from
this experience as well as your story's "takeaway"
meaning for Listeners.
Exceptions: "Colorful language" is acceptable (within reason),
but we will not consider adult-only (pornographic, abusive or violent)
material or overtly offensive language. All stories
must also be religion-political-gender issue neutral!
+ ++ + +
HOW LONG SHOULD STORIES BE:
Tell-Time = 6-8 minutes avg. per Teller
This equals approx. 900-1200 written words.
ABOUT TIMING for live telling:
Practice your story out loud
and TIME IT before submitting to us.
If it is too short or too long we will not consider it
without revisions or editing by you.
++++++
SUBMIT VIA EMAIL -- AS ATTACHMENTS:
Formats accepted: Word doc/docx files or PDFs only.
Any other formats will not be reviewed.
SUBMISSIONS MUST INCLUDE:
WORD COUNT + STORY TELL-TIME MINUTES,
YOUR FULL NAME, EMAIL, PHONE
(in email text & also on attachment)
EMAIL SUBJECT LINE = "Story Concert submission"
After we get your submission --
We'll email-reply that we've received it (via story23fvcc@gmail.com).
If you do not get a notice of receipt from us within a week,
please SUBMIT again or phone us to make sure we got it
(some emails go to spam; always good to check receipt).
If your story has potential for a future event, we will notify you
by phone or email -- make sure we have your name and contact info!
HOW DOES THE CURATION PROCESS WORK?
If your story is selected for potential participation, we will
reach you to schedule a verbal "audition" by Zoom.
If we invite you to share it in an upcoming Story Concert,
we will expect you to promote your event to friends,
family and local groups you're part of.
All FSC participants -- including hosts -- are volunteers.
This allows us to provide our live events at no cost
to the Flathead Valley community!
+++++
WILL YOU NEED TO MEMORIZE YOUR STORY?
NO. Unlike other spoken word events -- i.e. The Moth,
Tell Us Something-Missoula or Pivot Spokane --
we DO NOT require you to memorize your story
or tell it live without notes.
But you must be familiar enough with telling it out loud
to do so comfortably within our 6-8 minute timeframe.
We will provide editing suggestions &/or presentation coaching
(at no cost) to invited Tellers if/as needed.
+++++
QUESTIONS: Call Barbara Schiffman at 747-238-0038.
Leave your full name + phone# -- say you're calling about Story Concerts - thanks!
Story / Writing Events in FV
It has been such a treat getting to work with you on this storytelling project (9/17/24 FSC). I learned a lot, and had a great time in the process. The story concert was well organized and curated, and I was so honored to share the mic with the other storytellers.
Read more"I cannot say enough about how much the storyteling class affected me, nor can I ever thank you enough for your guidance and encouragement."
Read moreThank you so much for holding the story concert last night! What an exciting concept that took boldness to present to a valley hungry for what they didn’t know they were hungry for! My mother and I enjoyed it very much.
Read more"I'm so grateful that you have re-awakened the storyteller in me. I'm very excited about the Story Concerts to come and participating. I feel like a six year old on the night before Christmas."
Read more"I’ve received so much positive feedback from people about the entire presentation of tellers! Big hit. I had 13 guests there. I love how many new connections I made with you two and the other students too."
Read moreRe your 8/15 Story Concet: Success! Good job. 💫 Always enjoy Glenn’s Native American stories. A very interesting perspective being on the outside yet very in!
Read more