Simon Says... This Is The Best Piece of Writing Advice I've Ever Gotten
Plus, introducing the Simon Says mini crossword puzzle!
Welcome to Simon Says, a weekly newsletter from Rachel Simon all about freelance life—from the inside scoop on just-published stories to advice on how to pitch to what it’s *really* like to leave a cozy full-time gig for the chaotic, unpredictable world of invoicing (jk, freelancing, but IYKYK).
Hi, friends! Today, I’m going to be messing with a different format for this newsletter (including a fun surprise towards the end, but don’t be rude and skip ahead!), due to a few reasons including:
A) I didn’t have any stories published this week again (I’ve been busy with other stuff and a few pieces got delayed)
B) I asked my Instagram followers if I should switch things up, and lots of them said yes
C) It’s my newsletter and I can do whatever I want!!!
So, instead of the normal run-through of articles, I’m instead gonna first talk a bit about…
The Best Piece of Writing Advice I’ve Ever Heard, otherwise known as The Story Behind That Tattoo On My Neck No One Ever Gets
(Horribly taken 2013 Instagram photo for reference below)
So. When I was in college, I read a book by the author Anne Lamott called, you guessed it, Bird by Bird. Published back in 1995, it’s considered one of the seminal works on writing, as it features tons of smart, useful, and perfectly stated advice on how to be your Best Creative Self™. It’s most famous, though, for the namesake story Lamott shares within it:
“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”
That’s it! “Bird by bird” isn’t all that different than “day by day” or “one thing at a time,” but there’s something about the phrase, and the imagery it provokes, that feels particularly poignant. As writers (or any creative people), we tend to struggle so much with the bigness of projects—filling hundreds of pages of a novel, hitting a 60,000 word count, figuring out how to get all the way from Plot Point A to Plot Point Z. Often, it can feel overwhelming, or even impossible, and so instead of pushing forward, we close our laptops and walk away in defeat.
But writing isn’t about the big end result, or hitting some major goal. When you view it like that, you’re bound to fail, because who on earth wouldn’t be terrified at the prospect of filling 300+ empty pages with plots and characters and non-garbage words? (Maybe like, Stephen King, who puts out a billion books a year, but that’s why he’s Stephen King and we’re not).
Instead, think of writing as something smaller and more manageable: putting one word after another, until they make a sentence, and then a paragraph, and then a page. One tiny thing at a time. Bird by bird.
It’s simple as hell, but isn’t all the best advice? So thank you, Anne Lamott, for sharing that little piece of wisdom with me years ago so I can share it with all of you now.
Introducing… The Simon Says Crossword
Surprise time! As you know, I make custom crossword puzzles, so I thought it’d be fun to include a mini one each week in the newsletter! The only problem is, I haven’t quite figured out the best way to share it here so that you can all actually do it without needing to print out the page. If anyone has any suggestions, I’m all ears!
For now, enjoy it if you can. Clues are below, and if you’re stuck on any answers, shoot me a message and I’ll help you out :)
CLUES:
ACROSS
1. “That hits the spot!” sound
4. Money, in slang
10. _-mo (replay effect)
11. Natural, unlearned
12. What you’re reading right now
14. Inscription on a grave
15. Copycat
16. Soccer star Lionel
20. Go _ _ (set sail)
22. Rock legend Joan
23. Queens neighborhood
25. Sport I’m writing a book about
28. From Peru, say
29. Shar-_ (wrinkly dog breed)
30. “You _ bother”
31. Upper-left keyboard button
DOWN
1. Equally tidy
2. War-torn Syrian city
3. TV host Mandel and namesakes
4. Black Swan star Kunis
5. Time for lunch, often
6. At work
7. Back muscle, for short
8. Enjoyed a meal
9. “I’m with _” (‘16 campaign slogan)
13. Ran naked
17. Spanish-style blanket
18. 10 Things I Hate About You star Stiles
19. Like some emphasized font
21. Chronicles of Narnia lion
24. Camping need
25. Give a terrible review
26. Ending for “serpent” or “salt”
27. B followers
You Can Now Pre-Order Pickleball For All!
Big news—my book, Pickleball For All, is now available for pre-order! You can get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever else you buy your books. Pre-orders matter so much, as they affect how much money/attention/effort the publishers put towards marketing the book (thereby affecting how well it does overall), so if you can, please pre-order your copy and I’ll be eternally grateful! And no, it doesn’t have a cover yet, but that will be revealed soon :)
Coming Up Soon
I will definitely have a few stories go live in the next couple days, so lots to share next newsletter! Speaking of which, there will be no new edition of Simon Says next week, as we’ll be in Mexico for a friend’s wedding and I’ll be too busy shoveling tacos and tequila into my body. Next issue will be on Wed 3/9!
Thanks for reading, as always. Happy crossword solving, and talk soon!
-Rachel