Writing for Steamy Ink Press

Anyone can write for the gossip paper, and you do not need to be a writer to do so! A three-sentence item about something ridiculous you witnessed at an event is a real submission and might be the best thing in the issue. Longer pieces, poems, songs, advice letters, fake advertisements, obituaries for buildings, and reviews of things that should not be reviewed are all encouraged.

Basically: if it’s funny, petty, heartfelt, or weird, it has a home here.

House Voice

The reporter is a character with feelings about what happened. Warm, nosy, theatrical, precise. The paper is affectionate and merciless at the same time, and the affection is real. A threat can be phrased as etiquette advice, a roast as concern. Big events get deflated by small details; small grievances get the gravity of state matters. Headlines pun. Columns sign off. Readers get addressed directly, like the paper is leaning across the table toward them (mostly because it is).

Making Fun of Someone Without Being a Jerk

The paper roasts people constantly, and the reason it works is that the roast is a form of attention, and attention is a form of affection. Some guidelines:

• Punch at what people do, not what they are. Mock the decision to use a corpse as a snowman armature; don’t mock the player’s costuming budget.
• In-game actions, public spectacles, and known bits are fair game; out-of-game stuff never is.
• Roast people at their biggest, not their smallest. The moment a veteran commanded a room, made a bold call, or committed a bit is fair game; the time a newbie fumbled, froze, or clearly felt bad is not.

If the person being roasted would laugh reading it, you’ve done it right. The paper covers people because they’re interesting, not to hurt them.

Gossip About Yourself

Submitting items about your own PC is encouraged—it’s one of the best plot tools in the game. Want the town to notice your character’s suspicious new wealth, budding romance, or mysterious absences? Put it in the paper. A blind item about your own secret is a lure for roleplay because everyone who reads it becomes a potential thread. The paper cannot tell the difference between gossip you’re a victim of and gossip you planted, and neither can the town. Use this to your advantage!

The Paper Can Wait for the Story

If you know something big is coming in-game such as a divorce announcement, a duel, a betrayal, or a proposal, you can coordinate with Shauna in advance. The piece gets written ahead of time and held until the event actually happens in play, then the paper goes out via courier while the town is still buzzing.

This requires consent from every player involved, and it works best when the piece is built on the large overarching thing plus speculation, not a blow-by-blow. Roleplay changes details—nobody can promise what gets said, who’s in the room, or how it ends. “The paperwork was served; this reporter has questions” survives any version of the scene. “She threw her ring in the lake and stormed out” survives only one. Report the thing that’s certain, speculate wildly about everything else (which, conveniently, is also the house voice).