​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

=====

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

 <> <> <>

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

====

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.

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. 

=====

>> 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)

=====

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!​