Whether you’re heartbroken or head over heels, Valentine’s Day tends to stir up a lot of strong feelings. We get it and we’re here to help. Whatever sentiment the Hallmark holiday brings up about relationships past, present, and fictional, we want to hear about it! We’re joining forces with our friends at SMITHTeens — home of the Six-Word Memoirs — to give you the chance to tell romance exactly what you think of it … and potentially win a spot in an amazing LIVE Valentine’s Day show in New York City, alongside stars of the NYC storytelling scene!
Tell Two Stories
For this contest, you’ll submit TWO stories:
FIRST, go to SMITHTeens and write either a 6-word love letter or a 6-word breakup letter in the comment area of the contest challenge.
THEN, come back here to figment.com and write a story of 500 words or less about a relationship starting or a relationship ending.
One grand-prize winner, chosen by SMITHTeens and Figment, will win the opportunity to read both of their pieces live or via video at our amazing Valentine’s Day event, “It’s Like My Heart Has Sciatica”: SMITH Mag’s Annual Love & Heartbreak Story Show — with Figment — in New York City on February 14.
Some important stuff to keep in mind:
- You must be between 13 and 19 years old at the time of entry.
- Your two pieces should be related in some way.
- You should use the 6-word letter you wrote on SMITHTeens as the title of your Figment piece. (If all 6 words don’t fit in the Figment title field, use as many words as you can, then add the letter to the top of your entry. Those 6 words will not be included in your final 500 word count.)
- Your pieces can be about a real relationship you’ve had or witnessed, or they can be about a fictional relationship.
Entry Details
1. Read the full rules.
On Figment:
1. Create an account on Figment.com.
2. Start a new writing of 500 words or fewer.
3. Tag your writing with SmithMagazine on the “Details” tab.
4. Press “Publish Now.”
5. You should receive a pop-up confirmation of your entry, and in about two hours or so, your piece should appear among the submissions below.
On SMITHTeens:
1. Register for an account on SMITHTeens.
2. Respond in the comment area of the contest challenge with a new writing of 6 words or fewer.
You must submit your entries on both sites by Monday, February 4 at 11:59 pm EST.
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Is this heart based?
It isn’t!
On SMITHTeens, how do you know if your comment was submitted or not? It doesn’t show up after I posted it…..
Hey Raquel-
Double check–has your entry shown up by now?
Is this heart-based?
It is not! Good luck.
My username on this site and the one on SMITHTeens are different. Does that matter?
It does not matter.
Is this based on hearts?
It is not! Best of luck.
I’m a little confused… On SMITHTeens, I entered my submission, but there’s no way to tell if it went through or worked. Did I do something wrong, or is it just like that?
And also, are all of the entries read, or is it heart-based?
Thanks, KH.
Hey .5light!
Double check–has your entry shown up by now?
And nope! Not heart-based.
This isn’t a heart based contest, is it?
Nope! It is not.
Is this a heart-based contest?
It is not!
Is this heart-based in any way?
It is not.
Is this contest heart-based?
Nope!
Does it matter what order I submit my entries in?
Submit your SmithTEEN entry first, so you can title your Figment entry with your 6-word letter.
Help! How do I know that I am entered for real? Because I had trouble with the SMITHteen part…
Hey! Double check–has your entry shown up by now?
I signed up for the “SMITHTeens and Figment Valentine’s Day Contest,” and my comment is not appearing on the contest challenge page on SMITHTeens. I e-mailed the site trying to get some protocol for what to do, but they sent me an auto-reply of frequently asked questions. What should I do, if my comment doesn’t show up?
There is some expected moderation delay. Is your comment still not showing up?
My comment on SmithTEEN won’t show up! Did I do something wrong, or do I just have to wait for it?
It should show up after a moderation delay. Are you still not seeing it?
disregard my other comment. I finally made contact with the website. Now I’m in their database. Thank you!
Hey there! So I’m trying to make a smithteen profile but it keeps glitching! Every time I try to enter my verification code, it won’t let me. Now I can’t post my comment. Confused.
NEVERMIND! I got it.
can you change the title of your story?
Hey Margy! The rules for titling your story are listed above. To be eligible to win, make sure your title follows those rules!
Stubborn people. So many of the exact same question. I’m pretty excited for this.
Anyway, one question, I included my title at the end of my 500-worded story. Is that okay? Would that count in the word count? I guess that’s two questions.
Thank you!
The rules for titling your story are found above–please follow them to be eligible to win.
Just out of curiousity, could you use the same story you put into one contest for another at the same time?
Nope! Most contests on Figment require original stories which would mean unique to each contest. Entering the same story in both may result in the entry being disqualified from both. Please read the official rules for each contest before entering!
“maybe” should be made**
Has the winner been notified yet?
The winner has been announced! Check the Figment newsletter for the winner.