​How to Write Everything

By Paul Fiander
Written by: David Quantick
Narrated by: David Quantick
Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins 
Publisher: Audible Studios
Unabridged Audiobook

​Honestly this title is a little bit of an exaggeration, coming in at just over four hours you could hardly expect it cover everything. What you do get though is a great starting point for want to be writers. Author and narrator David Quantick does a great job trying to remove some of the barriers those with a passion for writing may have. His advice is practical and the book is filled with humor making the run time fly by at a surprising pace.
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Quantick himself is a journalist and comedy writer, working in a variety of roles including sitcom script writing and helping to write Eddie Izzard’s autobiography has given him an interesting perspective on how to survive in the world of the eclectic writer. Many books focus on certain aspects of writing, like where to find inspiration or tips for creating a novel but the scattergun approach of the text covers many of these topics. Where Quantick finds himself at a loss he drives into the works of the more established creator interviewing the likes of novelist Ben Aaronavitch in order to try to answer some of the questions to which he has no answers. I like this approach as seeking advice from others who are better qualified give the book more authority in my opinion.
The topics covered are varied but the highlight are the pieces on comedy. With a background in writing sitcoms Quantick talks with authority on the subject. The section where he talks about the American writers room compared to the English model shines a light on the difficulty of becoming a writer in the field in the UK. Of course just because is difficult doesn't means it's in impossible and he supplies some nice ideas for want to be writers to follow. Most is fairly obvious but at times doing the simple things well and getting the basics right week stand you in great stead for a future career.

As an audiobook presentation the book works really well. It is helped that Quantick has a distinctive voice and his narration is filled with humor. Many will look at the physical edition of this book but there is something to be said to listening to the author’s inflections helping to gain more insight into the text. In essence I'm saying to grab this book if you have any desire to write, it may not be the essential text book but as an inspiration piece as well as a practical guide it is very hard to beat.

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