Story starters

Monster story starters

The monsters in Kevin Coulston’s books are more likely to be nervous than scary. Draw a monster, then pick a starter and find out what it is worried about.

12 story starters to pick from

  1. The monster under the bed is afraid of the dark.
  2. A monster goes to its first day at a human school.
  3. A pizza monster wants to be a pizza chef.
  4. A very hairy monster goes to the barber.
  5. A monster loses its roar.
  6. A monster tries to be scary but everyone thinks it is cute.
  7. Two monsters argue over who is the smelliest.
  8. A monster bakes a cake for its grandma, who lives in a swamp.
  9. A tiny monster lives in a backpack.
  10. A monster wins a trip to the beach.
  11. A monster gets a pet goldfish.
  12. A monster hears a noise and thinks it is a human.

Stuck in the middle? Add one of these:

  • Suddenly, its shadow becomes a different monster.
  • Suddenly, all the lights go out.
  • Suddenly, it hiccups and turns invisible.
  • Suddenly, its slime starts to spread everywhere.
  • Suddenly, a giant hand reaches in through the window.
  • Suddenly, it shrinks to the size of a pea.
Printable Monsters story starter cards Print the starter cards (PDF)

Two pages: 12 cut-apart cards and a three-panel comic with the first starter already filled in.

Make it a comic

Turn a starter into a comic

Your comic story

1 · Beginning

The monster under the bed is afraid of the dark.

“Uh-oh.”Draw it here!
2 · Middle

Suddenly, its shadow becomes a different monster.

TA-DA!Draw it here!
3 · Twist ending

How does it end? You decide!

The big finish
Print a blank template

Draw in the boxes with a finger, a stylus or a mouse, or print the comic and draw on paper. The speech bubble and sound effect are just ideas: use them, change them or make up your own.

Draw it first

Draw the characters with a free lesson

More free lessons like these

Then write it

Story sheets that go with it

Story Map story sheet

Places and mapsAges 8–11

Story Map

Draw the map of your story world, mark the danger and the secret spot, then plan the route from start to finish.

Story Mountain story sheet

Story startersAges 8–11

Story Mountain

Plan a whole story as a mountain: the beginning, the build-up, the big problem at the top, the fix and the ending.

The books

Draw them from the books

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More story worlds

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Get the free Story Writing Pack

12 printable story writing pages (comic strips, a character file, a villain planner, a story map, a choose-your-path planner and an author certificate) sent with your welcome email. After that, new free pages and book news.

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