Creative Contest Guide for 2026

          ---Neopian Times (including Poetry)---

          The Neopian Times is Neopia’s newspaper, and it runs once every other week. It includes articles, short stories, comics, and now poetry, all written by users. Poetry used to have its own contest, but recently, poetry was combined into the Times. You can also enter a series, but I have never done that.

     Minimum and maximum word counts for each category of submission are found on the submission page. File sizing and format requirements for comics are found there as well:

          Submit your entry here!

          So, what should your piece be about? Sometimes, there are special editions of the Neopian Times, such as the winter holiday edition, Valentine’s Day, and Illusen Day. There is also a special user collab occasionally, where the theme is voted upon and decided by users. These special editions are announced on the “Neopian Writers” board. Also, every 25th edition of the Neopian Times is a commemorative issue about the Times itself and Weewoos. These commemorative editions award an avatar and a Neopian Times Coin to all winners. The coin can be added to your stamp album:

          Sometimes, special editions besides the commemorative issue award both the standard item prize and an additional themed item prize, such as the Woodland Petpet Paint Brush for Illusen Day.

     If there is no special edition coming up, you can try writing about basically anything Neopian. These editions are called random editions. To increase your chances of getting in, I suggest writing about current Neopian holidays (including Pet Days), current site events, and current seasons (spring, summer, fall, and winter). Alternatively, you can take any interesting Neopian idea, which hasn’t been done many times before, and run with it! Uniqueness will also help you get selected. If you aren’t accepted the first time, feel free to resubmit for each upcoming issue until you win.

     Poetry entries for the Times must be longer than what was previously allowed when poetry had its own competition. Therefore, you can make a compilation of several poems with the same theme. For Issue 1056, I submitted all the poems I had written about Neopian holidays in April as one compilation, and my entry was accepted. For special editions, you could write a compilation of three or four poems which match the theme of the issue.

     Historically, the Neodeck card “Alstaf Poogle” had been awarded for every 100th Poetry Contest. However, now that poetry is part of the Neopian Times, I’m not sure about the future of this card. I guess that time will tell:

           Also, there is an avatar for being published in the Neopian Times a total of 10 times or more. Once you are published 10 times, you must view your user lookup to receive the avatar. Any entry type, or a combination of entry types, will do, but Editorial questions do not count. The avatar looks like this:

          There is also a clickable Neopian Times avatar which anyone can get by visiting the 1000th issue of the Neopian Times. It looks like this:

          Also, for each winning entry, you will receive a trophy and an item prize (more on the item prizes later). The trophy looks like this:

          All Neopian Times trophies are gold. As you win more times, your trophy count will increase.

     The ideal time for submission is right after the last issue was published, so 2 weeks before the day you hope to see your entry published. Basically, you should submit on the Saturday immediately following the previous issue.

          ---Art Gallery---

          The Art Gallery features Neopian works of art created by users. Pretty much anything you can call “art” is allowed to be entered, not just drawings. (There will be more on diverse entry types later.) The Art Gallery is published twice a week in accordance with the Neopian holidays (including Pet Days) of each month. The schedule for the Art Gallery is announced on the “Art” board. I recommend submitting one day in advance.

     If you win any edition of the Art Gallery nowadays, you will receive 30,000 Neopoints, an item prize (more on item prizes later), and this avatar. At the time of writing, it isn’t awarded retroactively:

          For Neopian holidays, you should submit art that is relevant to the theme, of course. For example, if it’s Chomby Day, create something Chomby-related. However, there are also a few other types of editions, as described below:

     Random days are days in which anything Neopian has a chance of getting in. For random days, most people submit their art that previously didn’t get in. However, if you wish to boost your chances on a random day, you could theme your art around current site events or seasons. For example, if it’s summer, you could draw a Water Neopet on the beach.

     “Handmade Day” occurs once a month. For Handmade Day, anything that isn’t a drawing has a chance to get in. You can submit paintings, crochet and sewing projects, origami, nail art, clay sculptures, art involving food, art involving beads or jewelry, and anything else I haven’t thought of. Please note that creating art themed after current site events and seasons will help you get in, as will uniqueness. For example, for Round 3984, I painted a Kiko on an oval-shaped slab of wood. I’m guessing that I was the only one who thought of that!

     All winners of a Handmade edition will receive the Random Contest avatar if they don’t already have it:

          “New to Art Gallery” days only include people who have never won the Art Gallery before. In other words, your trophy count for the Art Gallery must be at zero at the time of submission, or else you are ineligible. Any Neopian theme is acceptable for entries, but entries themed after current site events and seasons have a greater chance of winning.

     “Artist’s Day Off” has not been done in a while, but I figured I should mention it anyway. Basically, you are supposed to draw the worst Neopian art possible for giggles. A literal scribble of a Neopet would be perfect. Of course, it will help you to theme your scribble after current seasons or site events, such as the Darigan Yooyu scribble I drew during the Altador Cup. You can find it on page 3053.

     All Art Gallery trophies are called “Picture Competition” trophies, and all are gold, as seen below:

          Please note that there is no commemorative edition for the Art Gallery.

          ---Storytelling Contest---

          The Storytelling Contest runs once per month, and it runs for two weeks each time. All winners will receive an item prize (more on item prizes later), a trophy, and 30,000 Neopoints. The premise is that someone starts a new story, and then other users write the next part of the story, with one new part being published each weekday for two weeks. Then someone ends the story on Friday. To start a new story, write the first part and submit it. Any Neopian theme is fine, but entries themed after current Neopian holidays, seasons, and site events have a greater chance of winning.

     To continue a story, simply read the current story, write the next part, and submit. Look at previous entries to get an idea of how long your entry should be. To end a story, wrap up the plot, write “The End,” and submit. Since continuations and endings are unique to each story, they cannot be resubmitted if they don’t get in. However, feel free to resubmit any Storytelling starts that don’t get in!

     The ideal submission time for starts is the Sunday before the contest starts, and the ideal submission time for continuations and endings is immediately after the winning entry for the day is posted.

          All winners of the Storytelling Contest will receive this avatar:

          To receive it, simply win the Storytelling Competition at least once, and then view your user lookup. It is awarded retroactively!

     There is also a clickable Storytelling avatar that anyone can get by simply visiting the 1000th story. It looks like this:

          Every 100th story is a commemorative edition which awards “The Storyteller,” a rare Neodeck card, as seen below:

          Nowadays, all Storytelling Competition trophies awarded are gold, as seen below:

          ---Standard Item Prizes---

          Even if the edition you were selected for was not a special edition, you will still receive a standard item prize! Your prize will be randomly selected from a pool of possible items so that each winner gets something different. The pool can be found here: