Rating: 
Summary: An extraordinary guide to creating powerful stories.
Review: I have just finished devouring this excellent book!! This is truly the "marvelous element" that we needed to make our new television series a huge success! Although I am a much produced playwright, and my twice Equity produced musical of "Joan of Arc" is a completely realized mythic tale made relevant to our current culture, creating a TV series out of whole cloth is quite daunting. Add to this the fact that our heroes are wonderfully complex individuals on a quest to find the Truth behind spiritual and psychic phenomena, my co-writers (screenwriters of "Mulan") and I found ourselves overwhelmed. We needed a way to organize our thinking and our musings, and especially to focus. As one might suspect, the subject matter and the complexity of the heroes has created a crisis of abundance. Needless to say, there have been feelings of desperation linked to working this out. But then something wonderful happened. Like a gift from the gods someone told me about this book... just the day after we received notes from the producers containing questions that we couldn't readily answer. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR THIS ELEGANT, INSIGHTFUL AND INCREDIBLY USEFUL GUIDE!!! I only wish Mr. Bonnet had also written a book on creating a television series. We are able to apply most of this information... which is primarily making us ask all the right questions... but obviously the character and quest arcs on a TV series are much longer. And, of course, the trap there is to take too long on each phase of the heroic model. In this need, I emailed Mr. Bonnet, telling him my reactions to the book. He phoned me and expressed his sincere interest in this project, offering his services. We are all feeling enormously blessed thanks to James Bonnet!! I believe he is right about the desperate need for story in our world, and I wept reading the last page. It's all I ever wanted was to enlighten and to entertain. Now, with these insights, we have a shot at creating transcendent television. Imagine that!!
Rating:
Summary: Rediscovering the mystical experience of storytelling
Review: I just finished reading Stealing Fire from the Gods and have to say...what a wonderful book! I've been working on a screenplay for about 5 years now. I've written several drafts. With every draft I come a little closer to "the truth" but it's been a difficult journey. I've been too concerned with following the traditional 3-act paradigm, making sure the first plot point is around page 20, the second plot point on page...The emphasis on structure has inhibited and often paralyzed me. As a result I have produced mildly amusing, formulaic scripts. I'm proud of my efforts but not particularly proud of the final product. I always end up feeling empty and frustrated. My message has yet to be conveyed in a story.
Reading this book was a breath of fresh air. It spoke to me, the me deep inside. The me that has something important to say. The me that knows the truth. I haven't even begun to work again but I already have all these wonderful ideas bubbling to the surface. It's as if this book has awakened the true storyteller in me.
This book taught me a great deal about what makes stories powerful. But the biggest gift it has given me is the reminder to listen to my feelings. I'd gotten so bogged down in the rules of structure that I forgot to ask my heart what it required. It was my heart after all, that wanted to tell a story to begin with.
I re-read my latest draft last night and realize that the parts I like make me feel happy and excited. That sense of "rightness". And the parts that don't work have always made me feel ill at ease. They were cheap substitutes. They didn't come from an authentic place.
I also appreciate Jim Bonnet's thoughts on "keeping everything in a fluid state." That's precisely what I haven't been doing. I haven't allowed myself to play and explore enough before making creative decisions. I want to finish the script so badly that I sometimes settle for short cuts. And it's a funny thing, once you write a draft it's very hard to let go of it. The scenes I've written, the interactions, the plot, they become these seemingly solid constructs that even I the builder have a hell of a time tearing down.
Creating is a mystical experience and this book reminded me of that. With Bonnet's practical advise and gentle encouragement I know that I can now begin again and face a blank page with less fear and more wonder.
Rating:
Summary: Rediscovering the mystical experience of storytelling
Review: I just finished reading Stealing Fire from the Gods and have to say...what a wonderful book! I've been working on a screenplay for about 5 years now. I've written several drafts. With every draft I come a little closer to "the truth" but it's been a difficult journey. I've been too concerned with following the traditional 3-act paradigm, making sure the first plot point is around page 20, the second plot point on page...The emphasis on structure has inhibited and often paralyzed me. As a result I have produced mildly amusing, formulaic scripts. I'm proud of my efforts but not particularly proud of the final product. I always end up feeling empty and frustrated. My message has yet to be conveyed in a story.
Reading this book was a breath of fresh air. It spoke to me, the me deep inside. The me that has something important to say. The me that knows the truth. I haven't even begun to work again but I already have all these wonderful ideas bubbling to the surface. It's as if this book has awakened the true storyteller in me.
This book taught me a great deal about what makes stories powerful. But the biggest gift it has given me is the reminder to listen to my feelings. I'd gotten so bogged down in the rules of structure that I forgot to ask my heart what it required. It was my heart after all, that wanted to tell a story to begin with.
I re-read my latest draft last night and realize that the parts I like make me feel happy and excited. That sense of "rightness". And the parts that don't work have always made me feel ill at ease. They were cheap substitutes. They didn't come from an authentic place.
I also appreciate Jim Bonnet's thoughts on "keeping everything in a fluid state." That's precisely what I haven't been doing. I haven't allowed myself to play and explore enough before making creative decisions. I want to finish the script so badly that I sometimes settle for short cuts. And it's a funny thing, once you write a draft it's very hard to let go of it. The scenes I've written, the interactions, the plot, they become these seemingly solid constructs that even I the builder have a hell of a time tearing down.
Creating is a mystical experience and this book reminded me of that. With Bonnet's practical advise and gentle encouragement I know that I can now begin again and face a blank page with less fear and more wonder.
Rating:
Summary: A promethean gift for writers...
Review: I make a living as a writer. I have even been tempted to write a how-to for screenwriters. I'm a good teacher and I've studied my craft. On the other hand, sometimes I am tempted to read the most celebrated books by others on the craft. In both cases, however, I usually resist the temptations. Some years ago, as I began work on a new screenplay (about an elf or earth sprite who awakens from an enchanted, multi-millennial sleep) I heard about a seminar for writers, a very special seminar called The Golden Paradigm, presented by James Bonnet. My brothers gave me a birthday present by signing me up. I took that seminar and it changed my writing life. The Golden Paradigm is the kernel, the core, the heart of the "fire" that writers seek "from the gods". It is a revelation. A magic carpet. A journey. A castle. No, it is a key to the storyteller's grammar that is inside you - waiting for you to discover it. James Bonnet is an elf or an earthsprite who has come to visit us, and he bears a wonderful gift, a book called Stealing Fire from the Gods. Do you have a story to tell? The magic of that story is the tension that exists between you and the archetypal truths that all great stories partake of. Bonnet's book unlocks that tension, makes it available - like a sword, a looking glass, an amulet. What is a fractal? It is a lot of information delivered in very few elements. The stories that really work, that go deep, that are universal, tap into the fractal nature of the archetypes of character and relationship. Stealing Fire from the Gods-the Promethean gift-for storytellers at any rate-can be found by the faithful, assiduous seeker in James Bonnet's captivating, enlightening book -Lanny Cotler (lanny@earthling.net)
Rating: 
Summary: Read this book if you are a writer
Review: I read this book twice: the first time to find out what the author had to say, the second time to "absorb the pattern" and make it mine. Then I dug out a couple of stories I had set aside a while ago and analyzed them applying the newly acquired model. It worked. I would say that "Stealing fire from the Gods" is a powerful tool for the storymaker and the storyteller and that it presents fascinating material for anybody else.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Worth Your Time
Review: I've read more than a dozen books on screenwriting and this was the only one I found to be a waste of time. The author comes off as if his concept is some kind of cosmic answer, a saviour to the screenwriters of the world. No hyperbole here, he preaches a kind of new-age religion. His "Golden" idea simply amounts to a rearrangement of all the screenwriting principles already out there. Don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing Popular Entertainment
Review: Jim Bonnet does something no one else has been able to do -- he shows positively and comprehensively how the stories we enjoy as a culture fit into the larger picture of social responsibility. While the politicos in Hollywood and Washington trade accusations and alabis about the role of this and that in movies and TV as they affect behavior in families and the streets, all those well-meaning but often clueless folks miss the big picture. Bonnet doesn't miss anything. He sees with a studied and well- thought-through clarity how our very souls are starving for good stories, and also how we are close to spiritual starvation and dehydration for lack of nourishment from what the filmmakers, TV producers and novelists are turning out these days. This may sound like pop sociology but it's very much to the point for anyone who writes or has anything else to do with bringing stories before the public. It is in fact the underlying substrate of nourishment in stories that feeds and waters our inner beings -- AND IT IS ALSO THE EXACT SAME QUALITIES AND ELEMENTS IN A STORY THAT SET CRITICS ABLAZE WITH PRAISE, AND THAT CREATE BOX-OFFICE BLOCKBUSTERS. Not only does Bonnet make this argument coherently and believably for the first time anywhere, but he shows exactly how it has been done in the past, and he also shows how any writer willing to do the necessary inner creative exploration can create the kind of story that will have lasting impact both in reviews and in revenues. I'm a professional writer who has spent 20 years shyly studying what Bonnet calls "storymaking." I've learned a lot and met some of the best teachers around. But I've never been as inspired or equipped to write my own stories as I have with what I learned from Bonnet. Frankly, this book isn't for anyone. If you're looking for more clever knowledge or stunning scholarship in the realm of what makes a story, you'll probably be disappointed. Bonnet isn't flashy and he doesn't dazzle with his brilliance. But brilliant he is. The key value of his work is for the thoughtful writer (and thoughtful others who are entertainment providers) who want to understand at last what made so many stories in the past truly great, lasting and impactful. Most stories today are thin and disappointing by comparison. If you want to know how to write for modern audiences with the same impact that the great writers of yore did, then this book will tell you. It's not the easiest read but it is well written. And it contains information you simply won't find anywhere else -- if for no other reason than that no other successful working screenwriter and Hollywood actor has devoted 30 years of his life to studying, and then making plain, the eternal secrets of story.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Rarely before have I been so thrilled while reading. The insights that are offered here are truly astounding and like other reviewers, I will be re-reading "Stealing Fire" many times to come. It is true that at times it appears a bit "New Age-ish" and the graphic representation of the "Golden Paradigm" appears a bit self-indulgent, but the great insights in this book come from the connections between our psyches, our collective sub-consciousness and our conscious awareness. Mr Bonnet's achievement in connecting these links and explaining the processes is truly a revelation of great importance. I believe the few people offering poor reviews just didn't "get" what it was about. This is understandable as the concepts are sometimes complex and need to be absorbed to be appreciated. This book is essential reading.
Rating:
Summary: An illiterates guide to typing
Review: The author has a genuinely junk mind. Trivial.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: The best thing about this book is the title. It is good from the perspective of being an extension of Jospeh Campbell's work, and is similiar to Christopher Vogler's "The Writer's Journey." What is new is the circle of the journey, and how it relates to various past movies, and ultimately to our lives. From that perspective it is worth reading. What is boring is the tone and writing. I get the feeling that the author tried very hard to make the connection between his mythical "Golden Paradigm," and how one should go about writing, and failed. The second part comes across as a "how to" book where the writer went through a checklist of things to consider in a drooning, repetitive style, impractical to follow.
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