Choose a Genre for our YA Story

Last week, readers voted for the antagonist in the photo below. Now that we have a protagonist and an antagonist, we need to choose a genre for our YA story. I’m listing only the most general genres. Which genre do you think would best fit with our main characters? Please vote for the one you prefer in the comments. If you want to mash up a couple–like a comic mystery–go right ahead. Can’t wait to see what readers choose!

Romance
Mystery
Thriller
Scifi
Fantasy
Historical fiction–please also mention era
Comedy
Contemporary drama

Read a previous post in which readers chose the building block for YA stories here.

June 16, 2025 2

Choose an Antagonist for our YA Story

Last week, I asked readers to vote on a main character, or protagonist, for a YA story. I had to break a tie and chose the girl in the photo above. This week I’m asking you to choose an antagonist for our YA story, someone to face off with the girl. Choose from the four photos. And, remember, an antagonist doesn’t have to be a villain–although #4 certainly looks like one. An antagonist is someone stopping the protagonist from reaching his or her goal. So for a YA story, it could be a parent or someone else in authority, who doesn’t support the goal of the main character.

Vote for you pick in the comments. You can see what readers picked as the building block for a previous YA story here.

June 9, 2025 1

Choose an Antagonist for a YA Story

After tabulating the votes, we have a tie for which one of the photos from last week will be our YA protagonist. To break the tie, I selected … the young man below. I like his thoughtful look. This week, choose an antagonist for a YA story from the other photos I provide. An antagonist doest not have to be a villain. It is just someone, or sometimes, something, that stands in the way of the protagonist from reaching his goal. That antagonist could be someone the main character loves, but for some reason, they are on opposite sides of an issue.

Here’s our protagonist.