feat(clp): build full CLP agent roster, templates, and skills library
- 8 company agents: Lyra (intake), Selene (CEO), Atlas (research), Nova (publishing ops), Iris (author), Devon (dev editor), Lane (line editor), Cora (continuity editor) - 19 additional templates (20 total): blog, recipe, short_story, book pipeline, ai_article, planning, boardroom, quick, project_index - 5 skill guides: YA, Romance, SciFi, Blog, Recipe writing - Rewritten charter and business plan Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
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David Baity
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skills/guides/YAFictionGuide.md
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skills/guides/YAFictionGuide.md
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# YA Fiction Style Guide — Crimson Leaf Publishing
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This guide is authoritative for all Young Adult (YA) fiction produced at CLP.
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Every agent writing or editing YA content must read and apply this guide.
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---
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## What Makes YA, YA
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YA fiction is defined by its protagonist (typically 14–19 years old) and the emotional
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experience it offers to teen readers — though a large portion of YA readers are adults.
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The core contract with the YA reader: **intense emotion, high stakes, and transformation**.
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The protagonist MUST change from who they were at the start. The reader lives through
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that change with them.
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---
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## Voice: The Most Important Element
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YA voice is NOT a dumbed-down adult voice. It is:
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- **Present and internal** — readers live inside the protagonist's head
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- **Specific** — teens notice details adults overlook (the brand of shoes, the exact shade of embarrassment)
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- **Contradictory** — teens think and feel in conflicting currents simultaneously
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- **Urgent** — everything feels like it matters MORE than it objectively should
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- **Funny-dark** — YA handles grief, abuse, and trauma, but often with a sardonic undercurrent
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**What to avoid:**
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- Narrative distance — no "She thought about her feelings." Get inside them.
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- Adult wisdom delivered to teens — protagonists don't lecture; they discover
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- Condescension — never write down to the reader
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- Moralizing endings — the protagonist learns, but the book doesn't preach
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---
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## Age of Characters
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- **Protagonist**: 15–18 for most contemporary; up to 19 for upper YA / new adult crossover
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- **Love interests**: same age range; no significant age gaps with protagonists
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- **Adults**: present but not the solution. Adults are obstacles, background, or limited allies.
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---
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## Content Boundaries
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**YA is allowed to include:**
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- Death (including suicide — handle with care, follow safe messaging guidelines)
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- Violence (not gratuitous; consequence-driven)
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- Romance (kissing, emotional intimacy, attraction; "fade to black" for explicit scenes)
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- Substance use (shown with real consequences, not glorified)
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- Grief, trauma, mental health struggles (handled with honesty, not exploited)
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- LGBTQ+ characters and storylines (normalized — not the entire focus unless that IS the story)
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**YA must not include:**
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- Explicit sexual content
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- Gratuitous gore with no narrative purpose
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- Content that glamorizes self-harm without consequence
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---
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## The Big Three Emotional Beats
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Every YA novel lives or dies on these three:
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1. **Identity** — Who am I, really? The protagonist is always in the process of becoming.
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2. **Belonging** — Where do I fit? Family, friend group, the wider world.
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3. **First Love / Deep Loyalty** — The first relationship that feels like the most important thing in the universe.
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At least one of these must be at the center of the story. Most successful YA holds all three in tension.
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---
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## Chapter Structure
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- **Target chapter length**: 2,500–4,000 words
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- **Chapter endings**: Every chapter must end with a hook — a question, a revelation, a shift, or a cliffhanger
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- **Opening hook**: First sentence must pull the reader in. Start in motion. No waking up, no weather descriptions.
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- **Chapters as episodes**: Each chapter is its own micro-story (a want → obstacle → partial resolution/complication)
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---
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## Common YA Sub-Genres and Their Conventions
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### Contemporary YA
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- Realistic present-day setting
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- Emotional/social stakes (coming out, divorce, loss, friendship betrayal)
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- Voice is paramount — the prose style IS the book
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- Comps: *The Fault in Our Stars*, *To All the Boys I've Loved Before*
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### YA Fantasy (High / Low / Urban)
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- Magic systems must have rules and costs — power without limits is boring
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- Chosen One trope is acceptable ONLY if subverted
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- World-building must serve the story, not overwhelm it
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- Comps: *The Cruel Prince*, *An Ember in the Ashes*, *Six of Crows*
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### YA Romance / Romantasy
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- The emotional arc IS the plot — the external conflict exists to force the characters together and apart
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- Enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, and grumpy/sunshine are evergreen structures
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- Sexual tension is built through almost-moments, proximity, and loaded dialogue
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- Comps: *From Blood and Ash*, *A Court of Thorns and Roses*
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### YA Sci-Fi / Dystopian
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- The world rules must be internally consistent
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- The social commentary must be earned through the story, not stated as thesis
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- Comps: *The Hunger Games*, *Divergent*, *Legend*
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---
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## Tropes: Use With Purpose
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| Trope | Use It? | How |
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|---|---|---|
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| Chosen One | Yes, with subversion | The protagonist resists or questions the role |
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| Love Triangle | Use sparingly | Both interests must be genuinely interesting; don't make one obviously wrong |
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| Enemies to Lovers | Yes | Conflict must be real and specific, not contrived |
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| Fake Dating | Yes | Works well when the "fake" relationship surfaces genuine emotional truth |
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| Brooding Love Interest | Yes | Give them depth and a reason for the brooding |
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| Insta-love | Avoid | Build attraction through conflict and proximity |
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| Chosen-Destiny Prophecy | Use carefully | Subvert it or the protagonist earns it |
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---
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## Pre-Assigned Character Names
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When the `book_outline` template provides pre-assigned names, use them EXACTLY.
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Do NOT substitute defaults like Jax, Elara, Ryder, Quinn, Knox, or Zane unless those
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were assigned. Character names are fixed at outline time.
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---
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## Prose Style Guidance for CLP YA
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Unless the project brief specifies a different style:
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- **POV**: First-person past tense preferred (most YA reads this way)
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- **Pace**: Fast in action scenes, slow in emotional peaks
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- **Dialogue**: Teens speak in fragments, interrupt themselves, use current idiom (but avoid dated slang)
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- **Internal monologue**: Frequent, wry, often self-contradicting
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- **Chapter openings**: Begin with action, dialogue, or a disorienting image — never exposition
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