We love stories! And we love love love hearing your stories and would love to feature everyone, but with the increasing interest in 2nd Story we've had to lay down some ground rules.
What is a 2nd Story story? What makes it different from any other story?
2nd Story is a specific form of storytelling that seeks to mirror the stories you tell your best friend over a good glass of wine/cup of coffee/piece of chocolate cake. There are all sorts of things we're looking for, and the best way to find out what those things are is to come to 2nd Story. Come, check out what we do, check out our audience, have a glass of wine (or two or five!); if you have questions, ask at the door to speak with a member of the Story Development Team and we'll talk your ear off!
For additional information on 2nd Story stories, you can check out our monthly podcast, our show on Chicago Public Radio, these awesome articles about what we do or some specific writing guidelines, below.
NOTE: We do NOT take submissions from people who haven't seen the event. End of story (ha ha good pun!).
Thank so much to everyone who submitted to 2nd Story! Submissions are now closed! We can't wait to start reading!
There are three ways to get involved as a 2nd Story storyteller
1. The Festival
The 2nd Story Festival is held every spring and features fifty+ storytellers, all presenting new work. We’re looking for the widest possible variety of stories: voice, subject matter, structure, etc. Our Festival submission deadline is DECEMBER 1st, and from those submissions we schedule auditions during the beginning of January. If your work is accepted, we’ll provide writing/editing support as needed, and then we’ll set you up with a director and a sound designer to hone the performance of your story. For the Festival, we expect folks to come in with highly polished work and a real understanding of what their approach to the 2nd Story aesthetic might be.
Again, submissions for the Festival are due DECEMBER 1st.
2. The Storytelling Cycle
The 2nd Story Monthly Series features stories that are developed collaboratively in the Storyteller Cycle. Each year, we choose a select number of storytellers to work with from September through May; they participate in performance and writing workshops, monthly large group sessions, small story development meetings, and all sorts of other crazy things in order to develop stories specifically for 2nd Story. Our Cycle submission deadline is JUNE 1st. From those submissions we schedule auditions in early summer, and the Cycle begins at the end of August and runs through the end of May, with an extended break over the holidays. We’re looking for strong writers and performers, but more importantly, we’re looking for people who are excited about exploring their artistic process, who are ready to work, and who will bring the greatest possible variety to our ensemble.
Again, submissions for the Storyteller Cycle are due JUNE 1st.
NOTE: Participating in the Cycle is a 9-month time commitment of four or five meetings a month from the end of August through the end of May. Your attendance at these meetings is mandatory. If this is too much for you, we suggest you submit to the Festival or for general programming instead. We also suggest submitting to the Festival/general programming first, to make sure that you like what we do.
3. General Programming
Often, folks just want to perform once for 2nd Story—no Cycle, no Festival, less time commitment, no memorization, just give it a go. In December and June we’ll read stories for general programming. We’re looking for highly polished 2nd Story stories.
Again, submissions for General Programming are due JUNE 1st or DECEMBER 1st.
Submitting to 2nd Story
Our submission deadlines are December 1st (for the Festival and general programming) and June 1st (for the Storyteller Cycle and general programming). On those days, we open our submissions inbox like a great big present and print out everything inside.
Here's what you do:
1. Write a 2nd Story story! We get tons of submissions that are really lovely pieces of writing, but they’re not what we do. Please please please check out what we do before you submit!
2. Email us at submissions@serendipitytheatre.org formatted as follows:
- The subject heading of your email should read: “2nd Story Submission—Your Name” (as in “2nd Story Submission—Joe Schmoe”)
- In the body of that email, please include:
- Your name
- Contact information (phone, address, and email)
- Specify what you’re submitting for (Festival, Storyteller Cycle, General Programming)
- To that email, please attach your 2nd Story story as a Word Document, formatted in the following way:
- Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double-spaced
- Your name
- The story’s title
- A page number must be on every page.
- Also, attach any performance/writing resume you may have (this is by no means required. We just like to peek if you’ve got one).
3. Send us this email by DECEMBER 1st or JUNE 1st.
4. Be patient. Our turn around time depends on the number of submissions we receive, and we
take great care to make sure that each one gets our full attention. If you’ve got what we’re looking for, we’ll ask you in for an audition—either way, we’ll get back to you as fast as we can.
Note: as a volunteer organization, we’re all juggling day jobs and families and art, along with the day-to-day operations of 2nd Story. We promise we’ll get back to you, we promise we’ll give you feedback, but you need to give us time to do so please and thank you.
Specific Writing Guidlines
Below are some things we look for in a 2nd Story story. Please use these in addition to checking out 2nd Story events—there’s a specific aesthetic we’re looking for in a 2nd Story story, and the best way to explain it is to see it live!
TEN MINUTES, MAX.
Please read your story aloud and time it before you send it in. We don’t read anything over ten minutes.
STORY CHOICE.
Keep in mind, most 2nd Story events take place in wine bars. Can the story you’re telling hold the attention of a drinking (or perhaps drunk) audience?
VARIETY.
We like stories that we haven’t heard before, ones that will bring variety to what we do. If you’ve already heard us tell a certain story, maybe you could chose different subject matter?
SCENE-DRIVEN.
Place description, character development, dialogue and, most importantly, SOMETHING HAPPENS. And just Telling us about something that happened isn’t enough—we want Scenes. With Dialogue. And Action. We receive many submissions where the teller just talks at the audience for ten minutes. That is NOT what we do.
FIRST-PERSON.
This is YOU telling the story. Your voice, your situation, your realizations. We are open to fictional techniques to make the best story (like exaggeration for effect, etc) but YOU are the main character.
NO FOURTH WALL.
Yes, we explore different writing and storytelling styles and techniques, but at 2nd Story, we write our stories with the audience in mind. The storyteller is not in a bubble, you’re telling the story TO the audience.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Our Artistic Director asks, “Why should anyone besides you and your friends care about this story?” There needs to be a clear idea of what the story is about—what it means/meant to you, why it’s important to tell This story in This moment. That is what a larger audience will connect with.
If you have further questions please contact Megan Stielstra, Director of Story Development, or, better yet, come to a 2nd Story event and ask to speak with a member of the Story Development Team! We LOVE talking about this stuff!
We look forward to hearing from you!