Writing and the Creative Life: Three Types of Creators

Perfecter. Innovator. Synthesizer. Which type of creative are you?

My son Will is a graduate of a five-year dual degree program at Tufts University and the New England Conservatory. He received two Bachelor’s degrees with three majors: Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Music Theory and Music Composition. Currently, he’s in his fifth year of a doctoral program at the University of Chicago in music composition. Obviously, a smart young man. So when he expresses his ideas… I listen.

Recently, he shared with me a theory he has developed. The basic idea is that there are three types of creators:

1. Perfecter — An artist who takes a current style and maximizes its potential, elevating it to the best it can be (e.g. Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Spielberg, James Cameron, Stephen King, Pixar, etc.)

2. Innovator — An artist who breaks the mold, consistently trying new things or pioneering a new style (e.g. Beethoven, Schoenberg, Kubrick, Picasso, Joyce, Dalí, etc.)

3. Synthesizer — An artist who draws from disparate sources, makes unexpected connections, and creates something both familiar and new (e.g. Ligeti, Stravinsky, David Lynch, Tarantino, Murakami, etc.)

Comparing Steven Spielberg to Stanley Kubrick to Quentin Tarantino. Or Bach to…