By Stephanie Avery.
Sylvie Simmons visited the SCAD Savannah campus this Tuesday for a student Q-and-A. Simmons has had monumental success over her forty year long career and conducted interviews for internationally acclaimed artists including Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, ACDC and Mötley Crüe. Over the years, Simmons expanded her writing to include long and short form, even the occasional fiction pieces. Simmons also wrote “I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen” and the biography was a New York Times Best Seller.
Growing up, there were only two career fields that Simmons could envision: music or writing. During her first performance in a pub (for an audience of seven), she decided on taking up the latter. “I was about to sing and nothing came out. I was absolutely stuck with stage fright,” Simmons said.
She began to send pitches to four local music magazines, known then as “inkies” for their cheap finger-staining ink, with no results. When she did not hear from them at first, she remained persistent and submitted new ideas— only to meet the same rejection. Three declined with no explanation, but one inkie editor explained they didn’t need her since they “already had a girl.” She went to all the local shows and was a skilled writer. “I thought I had all the qualifications to be a music journalist except I didn’t have a penis,” Simmons said.
Through a little luck and a lot of hard work, Simmons became a freelance writer, making connections along the way. One day in 1977, she was given a flight to Los Angeles for an assignment. “I got a round trip to LA, and I thought I would stay there and see if I could be a rock chick,” said Simmons.
Shortly after she got into LA, she was contacted by a music magazine who, after reading her work, asked her to write a piece on Steely Dan. It ended up on their cover. After that, she was regularly asked to do interviews with up-and-coming groups, such as Tom Petty and the Heart Breakers and Bruce Springsteen.
Though being a woman in the music industry was tough, there were occasional perks. If a band got a bad review, a male reporter could get punched in the face. Occasionally a desk would be peed on. That never happened to Simmons. Publishers learned it was best to send her to troubled bands. “Some of the editors enjoyed the fact that I was a female because I was less likely to be punched in the nose,” said Simmons.
Simmons parted the Arnold auditorium with her top ten tips for all writers:
- Persistence. (You don’t become a writer, you remain a writer.)
- Keep rewards for tough writing days. (Cold beers, chocolate, whatever works.)
- No googling yourself or any other writer. (Trust me.)
- Read aloud what you have read. (It helps catch long-winded sentences and typos.)
- Fine yourself for every exclamation point or pretentious word. (Send it to the Authors Guild.)
- Don’t put a picture of an author above your desk. (Especially if they killed themselves.)
- Understand what your editor wants. (Be sure to add the things that you want too.)
- Write honestly and accurately. (And the best you can.)
- Write something you would want to read. (Otherwise, what’s the point?)
- Remember that writing is work and a job like anything else.
