The Organised Writer

By: Antony Johnston

Narrated by: Antony Johnston

Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Organised Writer is a practical, no-nonsense system that allows you to write without worrying about administration, business affairs, or scheduling. This straight-talking guide will help you become more productive, cope with multiple projects and make time within your life to write - while also dealing with non-writing tasks more efficiently. It includes advice on how to:

• Manage your schedule
• Prioritise your writing time
• Take notes effectively
• Work with a 'clean mind'
• Get more written every day
• Deal effectively with non-writing tasks
• Set up a foolproof filing system
• Organise your working space

Listen to the book, then spend a weekend setting-up the system described, and you'll make the time back with interest. You'll get more written every day and complete more of your other tasks without being overwhelmed by all the things you have to do, forgot to do, or don't want to do.

©2020 Antony Johnston (P)2020 W F Howes

Get Organised

As a published author myself, The Organised Writer is probably the most valuable audiobook I’ve bought in years. Johnston, thoroughly but clearly, takes us through all the steps needed to clear ours minds (and desks) of clutter so we can focus on the writing at hand. He gives specific details on his methods, applying them not only to novels and short stories, but screenplays, comic books, video game scripts, really nearly every type of creative writing. He also gives examples of software to help your productivity, as well as detailed travel hints and presentation advice for writers. One really does get excited to try these methods, not only because you’ll be more productive as a writer, but because you’ll be freed of guilt from nonwriting or worry about upcoming deadlines, and thus better able to enjoy your down time. I can tell I’m going to listen to this at least twice more and apply what I’ve learned. So, I good I bought both the e-book and audiobook.

Sounds good...

One of my first thoughts about this book was that the reader sounded rather "shouty". It was almost as though the reader was attempting to hammer home the message of the book. However, I also noticed a change in the readers voice between chapters and wonder whether he was ill or his voice was tired in the earlier part of the book. From that point on, I found the book more enjoyable.
Is it worth getting? If you've read Getting Things Done, you'll probably recognise a few things from David Allen's process and may not need to read this book. As with all these things, the system outlined may not work for you, although you might find some useful ideas to help you.
You do not have to adopt the whole system. You can steal those parts that work for you. I, for example, do not use digital task managers because none of them work how I do. I do use notebooks and the Bullet Journal system because they work for me. Part of reading this book is to find out what works for you. Enjoy.