MONSTER-BUILDING CONTEST
Bring us your monsters!
Cosmic Writers’ annual monster-building contest is open from now through December 31st, 2025, for young writers ages 14 and under! Submit for a chance to win a custom plushie of your monster character. Entrants should:
Create an original monster character using a New Monster Certificate (downloadable below).
Write a story in response to the following prompt: While your monster is in the middle of their favorite activity (which can be anything from picking berries to eating puppies), they’re interrupted by a monster-hunter waving a magical monster-snatching butterfly net. What does your monster do?
You can submit using the New Monster Certificate available for download on this page, or you can use the New Monster Certificate included in The Monster-Building Handbook (pages 8–9). If you use the Handbook, feel free to submit your final confrontation story (pages 26–29) in response to the second part of the instructions.
If you’re a teacher, librarian, or community educator, we’d love to support you in working with your youth to submit to the contest. Feel free to download our 90-minute monster-building curriculum here. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our Curriculum & Outreach Manager, Olivia, at oquinn@cosmicwriters.org.