We are always accepting submissions! Below is a step-by-step process on how to submit. Please read carefully.
Note: A few times a year we have 2nd Story submission ?drives? where we set a specific deadline for stories to be considered for specific events, like our 2012-2013 season. You can find out about the submission ?drives? by checking back here on the site, or by joining our mailing list or ?liking? us on Facebook.
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!).
Submitting to 2nd Story
We are always accepting submissions! Below is a step-by-step process on how to submit. Please read carefully.
Note: A few times a year we have 2nd Story submission "drives" where we set a specific deadline for stories to be considered for specific events, like our 2012-2013 season. You can find out about the submission "drives" by checking back here on the site, or by joining our mailing list or "liking" us on Facebook.
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@2ndstory.com 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)
- 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. 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 Bobby Biedrzycki, Director of Programming, 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!