Looking for a Festival Story

Guild story tellers are getting ready for the Festival of Ghost Stories on October 24. 

We're looking for a tale to tell -- and wondering what makes a good tale for this event?

This is the first in a series of posts that will consider that question.

To begin with:  our tales can't be too long -  only about 10 minutes, at most 12.

Even shorter is fine.  Longer is not.

(This does mean that you HAVE to time your telling.  Out loud.  Before the auditions on Oct. 15)

So right away we're looking for something that can be told in a constrained amount of time and still be effective.  

Take this as a warning not to fall in love with a story that will have to be cut and edited and re-trimmed to fit the time.  We've all done that and can tell you that it is far better to start with a shorter story.

Who's telling at the Festival of Ghost Stories?

When you see an event that features "The Bloomington Storytellers Guild", it means that the performers are either members of this group or specially invited guests.

Members of the Guild pay dues to be part of the active tellers group.

So if you are thinking that it would be fun to tell at the Festival of Ghost Stories (and it would be fun!)  make contact with us before the auditions on

Wednesday, October 15,

6-9 pm

Monroe County Public Library, room 2-B

You will need to present your story at this audition session.

You can bring your dues to the auditions.

About those auditions:

this is a "preview" session that serves several purposes, including giving you feedback on your presentation.

If you have not told as a Guild member before, you should come prepared to tell your entire story.

If you are a frequent teller, be prepared to share the beginning or a segment or an outline of the story.

Everyone should try to get information about the title and general content of a story that is being considered to the Event Coordinator well before putting a lot of time into learning and polishing it.  This allows the coordinator to keep us from duplicating stories or from having too many of the same style of story, and you won't have the disappointment of having picked a story that doesn't fit the event.

The Event Coordinator will consider all stories in view of the overall concert, and may accept or reject stories depending on the needs of the script.

More on story selection coming...