The Golden Theme: How to Make Your Writing Appeal to the Highest Common Denominator

More than I anticipated from a storytelling book. It's in the reread you look discover the most...Great... Read...a plus...a must read...over and over...

I like the easy going style of this book but it was a little bit more philosophical then I wanted really focusing on the universal principle of the Golden Rule.Seems like the author is going through a spiritual transformation at this time and though he clearly describe the concepts of commonality and relatability as an approach to writing it was a little bit more philosophical than I expected.What examples from life it's clear that the author understands that humanity is connected more than the divisiveness that we see with politics and religion, sadly I think that this understanding is not shared amongst the majority.Brian suggests to the authors reading this that their job is to advance the understanding of this commonality of humanity and though I applaud his effort my personal experience has shown that individuals that can bring this change about are certainly rare... because as is common in The Human Experience we focus on what is right in front of us and no one wants to see the big picture.

I am grateful for this exploration of the Golden Theme. It makes a lot of things clear about the deep power of stories to help us understand that 'we are all the same,' and does so with an abundance of ... richly told stories. An inspiring read that I believe can be applied to other art disciplines. As a composer and songwriter I will definitely be pondering these words as I take up my pencil.

This is such a pleasure, and an eye-opening experience, to read. IMHO this should be part of the storytelling canon (Story by Robert McKee, The Anatomy of Story by John Trudy, Moral Premise by Stanley D. Williams, PhD, Anatomy of a Premise Line by Jeff Lyons, Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias, The Golden Theme by Brian McDonald, Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, Narratology by Mieke Bal, The Authentic Swing by Steven Pressfield, etc...)I strongly believe that this wonderful, and quite frankly vital, a that should be read regardless if you're a Storyteller or not. This is without question a gem in my catalog/library.

One reviewer said this book could be summed up in one phrase "we are all the same." I think that reviewer was confusing theme and main message with summary. The author helped me explore this theme as a thinking emotive human connecting to humanity and as a writer who wants to write books that resonate with others.This is a great book for inspiration. It gave me many ideas on how to deepen the themes in my novel. I've always thought of story as important for humanity. And I've always wanted to help other people see their own humanity and what they can do to enjoy life more. This book tied it all together for me.

The best book for writing I have ever read. Brian MacDonald makes a compelling case of the main theme that guides every story. He has managed to distill this essence into an easy to read book. Completely worth your while. Perfect for re-reads! I had the kindle version but I needed to get the physical copy to be able to re read it at my leisure and take notes.

I thought this might be something about the mechanics of writing, but I was pleasantly surprised that it made me aware of the art of the craft. For those who want to take their writing to the next level, I would highly recommend it. Some of it I think I was aware of art some level, but this book made me conscious of it.

Concise and helpful to anchor your writing along with his book, Invisible Ink. Examples are ones everyone knows and can use to model characters into real life.

Short-ish read but well worth it.

Ich war mir zunächst nicht ganz sicher ob ich dieses Buch kaufen sollte, nachdem ich bereits Invisible Ink von diesem Auto gelesen und absolut geliebt hatte, da ich davon ausging hier sehr viele Wiederholungen aus zuvor genannten Buch wiederzufinden.Dem war nicht so.Der Auto behält hier dieselbe Grundeinstellung aus Invisible Ink bei: beim Schreiben (egal ob Roman, Screenwriting, oder anderes) es geht um die Story.Dieses Buch geht so tief unter die oberflächlichen Schichten von Story (Struktur, Akte, Genre, etc.) das man während dem Lesen ein angenehm warmes Gefühl im Bauch hat, naja, zumindest ging es mir dabei so.Wer in seinen Geschichten Gefühle in seinen Lesern regen will, dem Leser eine organische Geschichte schenken will, der sollte dieses Buch lesen, gemeinsam mit seinem bereits genannten Invisible Ink.Invisible Ink beschreibt die wie eine Story funktioniert.The Golden Theme was eine Story ist.