Welcome to Saint Vals 2022! This time around is all about Love Letters and First Love. We want you to capture the spirit of that first love and pour your heart out on the page! You will have the chance to choose between writing from the POV of the sender or the recipient of the letter. Put your personal stamp on this story and send it out to the world!

As usual, we will have a number of other activities that will take place between February 3-14. If writing is not your thing, you can always come back and give us some love, participating in these mini challenges! Try it! Watch out for Antics involving Love, Heartbreak and everything in between!

The lovebugs are here and they will deliver your letters. Write for Love! Write for Heartbreak! Show us your best story!

Team Love

Team Heartbreak

While you are invited to stay with us until the 14th, remember that we will be receiving entries for the contest from February 1 - to February 28, 11:59 PM EST.

Wanna check out that contest? Of course you do!

This contest aims to help you show off your storytelling talent in the language you are most comfortable with. Write your heart out and treat us to some phenomenal Valentine's tales. 

RULES

The rules for the contest are as follows:

➤ Your story must have a maximum of 3000 words.

➤ Your story must be in one of the listed languages. (See previous chapter.)

➤ It should be a story that you've specifically written for this contest.

➤ We will be using an open prompt with the subject of "Love Letters." We will allow space for your creativity , but you must submit to that particular subject.

➤ Your story must follow the Content Guidelines outlined by Wattpad.

➤ You must submit your story using the following FORM. Please, feel free to share the link to your story in comments as well, but keep in mind the form is the official means of entry.

➤ We will be assessing stories on spelling and grammar, narrative voice, relation to the prompt, and overall creative execution. However, the prompts are open enough for you to follow your heart and give us a great story!

➤ Your story must carry the tag #ValentinesContest2022. Add this in the tags section from your story editing page.

➤ The final and most important rule: have fun and show us what you've got!

Prompt:

Love is complicated enough, so this year we will allow for your creativity to shine by giving you a simple subject: Love Letters

◆ You can be the sender (that love stricken soul declaring your feelings for the very first time) or if you are in the mood to make or break expectations, you can answer a love letter (with a positive or negative response).

◆ Will you find the right words to conquer your beloved's heart? Will you respond in kind and give that yes? Or will you, on the other hand, destroy all hopes? It's all in your hands.

◆ You can play for Cupid's team or bring on the Heartbreak! You know how it goes!

◆ As you can see, this is an open prompt and can be adapted to any genre and subject matter out there, from Historical to Sci Fi... Surprise us! 

Schedule and Prizes

The contest will begin on the 1st of February, 2022, and will run through the entire month. The deadline for entries is 28th Feb, 2022, 23:59 PM EST. Any entries submitted after this time will not be counted. 

Winners will be declared by the third week of March.

The top three entries from each language will be added to a grand anthology that will be published by every participating profile.

➤ Winners will receive shout-outs to the followers of every participating profile! Winners will also receive special stickers/banners to flaunt their wins.

➤ What about an incentive, right now? Everyone will receive a special participation sticker: team love or team heartbreak. Isn't it neat?

➤ In addition to that, all participating profiles will showcase up to five of their favorite entries on a Special reading list!

So, what are you waiting for? Let's start this month of love by showing off a fresh batch of romance stories on Wattpad, spread across multiple languages.

FAQS

Does it have to be a single chapter?

No, as long as the word count is reached, feel free to use as many chapters/parts as you like.

Do I have to follow these prompts?

You must follow the prompt as indicated. Love letters will give our judges a base line to judge across themes and genres.

Can I incorporate a sub-genre?

Yes, you can incorporate any sub-genre as long as it follows the Content Guidelines and the prompt you have chosen. The profiles involved will guide you regarding any additional genres and tags.

Can my story be a fanfiction?

Yes, you can write fanfiction, as long as it follows one of the provided prompts. Use the 'Fanfiction' category and #fanfiction tag so the right audience will be able to find it.

Can I submit a story co-created with a friend?

Yes, but if you choose to publish on both your profiles please be aware that we can only add one story to our respective reading lists, not both.You can list the contributing authors added to your name in the form, so they will also receive credit.

Can I write Mature works?

Yes, you can, as long as your story content abides by the Wattpad Content Guidelines, Mature fiction may be entered into the contest.

Can I submit a story with LGBTQ+ Characters?

Of course you can, this contest and Wattpad as a whole is always inclusive of LGBTQ+ characters and stories. We'd love to read about them!

Can the entries be over the word count?

Unfortunately, no, as part of the contest's challenge is to write an engaging and unique short story with a maximum of 3000 words.

How will our entries be judged?

Stories are judged on various factors, such as written quality (spelling, punctuation, and grammar), originality, and engagement (how much we enjoyed the read).

When will the results be announced?

Winners will be announced across all profiles by the third week of March. This will give our judging teams ample time to properly read and score your stories.

Can I write more than one story for each category?

As much as we'd love you to write to your heart's content, we can only accept one short story per user for this contest.

How do I submit?

Using THIS FORM. Also, don't forget to let your followers know you've written something new! 

Please be aware to direct any further questions to our inbox as we may not always pick them up in the comments. Somebody will get back to you as soon as they're able.

Please make sure you read carefully the Content Guidelines and that your story follows Wattpad's Rules & Regulations. Please note that content violating the Guidelines will be reported to Wattpad.

Happy writing! 🎉