At Figment, we adore a story with a good love triangle. Are you Team Jacob or Team Edward? Team Peeta or Team Gale? In Heather Brewer’s new novel, Soulbound, Kaya is caught up in her own love triangle. Should she choose good guy Trayton or bad boy Darius? Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just choosing the right date to the prom.
In the world of Tril, there are Barrons (warriors) and Healers (bound to Barrons and able to cure their wounds). Kaya is a Healer, but she longs to be able to fight and defend herself from danger on the battlefield. This makes her a bit of a rebel at Shadow Academy, the boarding school where she is sent to learn how to be a Healer and be bound to a Barron. It’s against school rules for Healers to learn to fight—but Kaya is determined. She asks both Darius and Trayton to train her in secret. Only one is willing to break the rules—and the consequences will change the lives of everyone involved.
Your writing challenge: In 1,200 words or less, write a story about a love triangle from the perspective of one the following:
1. Told from the perspective of one of the triangle members
2. Told from an outsider’s perspective
3. A three-part story told from each character’s perspective
How to Enter:
1. Read the full rules.
2. Create an account on Figment.com.
3. Start a new writing of 1,200 words or fewer.
4. Tag your writing with SoulboundContest on the Details tab.
5. Press “Publish Now.”
6. You should receive a pop-up confirmation of your entry, and in about two hours or so, your piece should appear among the submissions.
You have until Tuesday, July 10, 2012 at 11:59p.m. ET to enter your story. Voting will run until Monday, July 16, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Heather Brewer, the author of Soulbound, will decide the winner.
First prize winner will receive a copy of Soulbound, First Kill, and an Advanced Reader Copy of Second Chance (which isn’t in stores until October!) all by Heather Brewer.
Second prize winner will receive a copy of Soulbound and Twelfth Grade Kills by Heather Brewer.
Third prize winner will receive a copy of Soulbound.
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Can it be a poem
Sure! As long as it still fulfills one of the above prompts.
Is this a heart based contest?
Yup!
Is this ci test heart-based?
*contest*
Yes, it is.
Hi!
Well, can one of the characters in the love triangle be an inanimate object? O.o
Thanks!
Yes, but make sure it conforms to the Figment guidelines.
I have a question. It says the voting runs until the 16, but does that mean all votes prior to the submission deadline are counted as well?
It does. Voting runs from the announcement of the contest until the 16th.
I can’t get the pop up to show up. Its published, marked soulboundcontest, and is under 1,200 words. Any help?
The three things that could prevent a pop-up would be:
-Your story is tagged improperly.
-Your story was created on Figment before the announcement of the contest.
-Your story is saved as a draft.
Check that all of those are correct, and if they are, you’re all set!
Does it count if it was created as a draft before the contest?
If it was a draft on Figment before the announcement it is not considered a valid entry.
How many semi-finalists will be chosen?? And is it based on how many hearts you have?
10 finalists will be chosen. These entries will be the ones with the most hearts.
Thank you!
Wait, so if this is a heart based contest. . . will Heather Brewer decide the winner from the top ten?
Precisely!
can it be based around an existing poem???
As long as the poem is out of copyright, yes.
So, can the story have quotes from other people?
As long as they are properly attributed, yes.
I have two questions. One, is this heart based? Two, will she pick the winners? Thanks!
The ten most-hearted entries will become finalists and she’s picking the winners from the finalists!
I’m confused on how this is a heart based contest. Is it like the top ten most hearted get into the finals and then the author chooses the winners?
That’s precisely right!
Nasty editing comment. Forgive me.
“Should she choose good guy Trayton and bad boy Darius?”
Um, AND? She can choose both?
Ha! We’ve updated it. Thanks!
I tagged my entry “soulboundcontest” about five hours ago but it isn’t with the entries
Hey Mackenzie-
The only things that would prevent your entry from showing up:
1. The tag is incorrect. Double check you’ve got it right!
2. The story is saved as a draft. Double check you’ve got it published!
3. The story was created on Figment before the announcement of the contest. Double check you started a new writing on Figment for this contest!
If you’ve double checked all of those, you’re entered!
Ok, so I know it’s a love triangle thing but does that mean that there can not be a fourth person? Like on of the people in the main triangles girlfriend or something along those lines.
That’s fine!
If I chose to make it three parts, does each part need to be 1,200(or less) words, or does the story as a whole need to be that much?
Each user may only submit one entry and the entry as a whole must be 1200 words or fewer. Good luck!
Okay, thanks!
Woop woop! Can’t wait to join this one I have just the story for it!
I can not wait to join this contest!
Does the SoulboundContest tag go in the description?
It goes under “tags.”
Failure I just saw the tag thingy-ma-bob. My blond-mess was showing.
Ha! No worries.
Hi there. I got inspired by this prompt and wrote something, but I’m not a teenager–I’m an adult. I was wondering if there’s an age cap for the competition? I’d like to throw my entry in just for fun, but I wasn’t sure…
Thanks.
Nope! No age cap. Go for it!
Can we have more than three parts to the story if we choose prompt 3?
Nope! It should have three parts exactly.
I’m so excited! Got it all to fit!
If semi-finals is determined by hearts isn’t that harder on those that post later during the submissions period?
This is why we have a voting period, so that stories posted just before the deadline have more time to gather votes!
Can I use characters from another story of mine for this short story? As this love triangle will happen in the story anyway? :’)
Sure!
I don’t see my entry listed.
nevermind, needed to adjust the tag…
i don’t understand the instructions. i says there will be voting, but what’s the point if the author will decide who will win and if it’s not based off of most hearted?
The finalists will be the ten most-hearted stories. The author is choosing the winner out of the top ten stories.
For some reason my pop up hasn’t happened?! What am I doing wrong?
Hey Ashtyn-
Three things that could throw this off:
-The story was created on Figment before the announcement of the contest.
-The tag is incorrect.
-The story is saved as a draft.
Check all of these and if they’re set, you should be entered!
i’ve spelled soulbound contest 3 different ways in my tags. all of them the exact same to at least one person who has theirs accepted yet mine won’t show up on the list. can you tell me why?
ahhh never mind it’s finally in there.
Hey Ryko-
Three things that could stop your story from appearing:
-It is tagged incorrectly. Double check that your tag matches the one in this post.
-It was created as a writing on Figment before the announcement of the contest.
-It is saved as a draft.
Check all of those and if they’re all set, you’re entered!
i can’t upload my story! help!
Hey Isabel-
What specifically is happening when you try to post a story?
Okay, so I did everything the HOW TO ENTER rules told me to do and yet my story, one day later, has not even in the ALL ENTIRES pages. I’ve scrolled through them many times and can’t find my story there, though I have everything tagged and done correctly. What’s going on?
Hey Justin-
3 possible issues:
-Your story is tagged incorrectly
-Your story is saved as a draft
-Your story was created on Figment before the announcement of the contest
Check all of those and if you’re all clear, you should be entered!
Alright, thank you! Shortly after I wrote this I went and carefully checked everything: not only it tagged wrong (which I corrected) but I kept pressing SAVE AS A DRAFT xD it’s all good though now, thanks again!
Is there a chance that it could be fanfiction about a love triangle thatdoesn’t currently exist?
For this contest, the characters should either be out of copyright (from an old book), or original and created by you. Other fan fiction may not be accepted.
Are you allowed to switch entries? Like for example, I wrote this story for the contest, but wrote another piece I think is better. Am I allowed to take out the tag on one and put it on the other?
Yes, but users with multiple entries in the contest will be ineligible, as will any stories that were created before the announcement of the contest.
Okay, thank you!
Any one notice how many of the entries are about girl choosing b/t 2 boys? Why haven’t I seen one where it’s a boy choosing b/t 2 girls?
Can one of the people involved have a boyfriend who isn’t a part of the triangle? Or would that make it a trapezoid?
For sure!
Can it be told through a letter?
Totally!
ummm did you say it was top 10?… she must not have alotta time on her hands compared to the ones who do 25
i don’t think i’m gonna make it.
So, is it okay to have more than one tag?
As long as you have the correct contest tag and as long as none of the other tags are for current contests.
Is it alright if its got paranormal mixed in?? Because I have an AMAZING Idea if we can add more than one genre together
Sure thing!
Can you be from Australia to enter?
Okay, don’t worry about it. I’ve read over the rules & it says I can’t.
So the writing has to have been created after the announcement of the contest?
Yupp!
Um yeah so I published the piece, copied and pasted the SoulboundContest to the tags, and its under 1200 words but never got the pop up…it wasn’t already published OR saved as a draft soooo?
Hey Renae-
As long as you’ve followed all the rules of the contest, you’re set! The pop-up doesn’t determine eligibility and could be prevented by pop-up blockers, among other things.
Is swapping not allowed?
swapping is allowed, but make sure your requests aren’t spamming. The contest promotion forum is a great place to start!
So, since this is heart-based, don’t those few people who DON’T like heart swaps and are busier, have less of a chance to even be read, because their story won’t get any attention?
Like mine?
can it be fan fiction or do the characters have to be our own?
The characters should be your own. Good luck!
Am I allowed to tell my story in third person?
Hey Amber-
You may use a close third, as long as the perspective is clearly one of the prompts listed.
If our story happens to be a few words over 1200 words, will we be disqualified? By a few words I mean about 10 to 20 word over 1200 words. So does it have to be exactly 1200 words or less?
Hey Jasana-
The word count is strict, so only entries 1200 words or fewer will be considered valid. Best of luck!
For this love triangle, do all the members have to be in love with each other?
hey i published it but then remembered i forgot to tag it, so i went back, tagged it, and saved the changes. am i entered?
Yup! Best of luck.
I have officially given up on the contest.
However, where would you go if you had an idea to share for the site?
You could send your suggestion to admin@figment.com!
I published it with soulboundcontest in the tags and I didn’t get the pop up confirmation. Did I go in?
There are three reasons you might not have gotten the pop-up:
-The entry is saved as a draft, not published.
-The tag is incorrect
-The story was created on Figment before the announcement of this contest.
If you check all these, and you’re fine? You’re good to go!
If I make edits to my entry during the voting period, will my piece stay in the contest or will it get dropped? I’d like to edit a couple of typos but I’m a little worried to make updates now that things are closed off…
Edits should be made only during the entry period. Once the voting period begins, entries should not be altered.
Perfect. Just what I wanted to know. Thanks!
I think I made some edits to typos during the voting period! Will my entry not be counted?
Hey Merina-
Your entry may be counted but it may be read as it was before the voting period began.
When will we know the contest finalists? I mean, we already know because of hearts, but when is it official?
No set time to announce the winners so stay tuned!
So when will we find out who won? (the date)
No set date to conclude judging!
Aw
Will the total number of hearts on an entry be counted (from the beginning of the entry period), or just those acquired during the voting period?
And just curious–do you have a way to tell the total number of hearts on each entry at the cutoff time and not after? I imagine some entries will continue to pick up hearts after the contest…just wondering how that works.
And thanks! This has been fun to participate in.
Hey Barret-
Hearts are counted from the beginning of the contest entry period all the way through voting. We do have a way to tell the total number of hearts at the close of voting! And you’re welcome! Best of luck.
Will you be posting a list of the ten finalists?
Yup! We will.