The Creative Curve: How to Develop the Right Idea, at the Right Time

by Allen Gannett

These creative communities feature four types of individuals: A Master Teacher—This is the person who teaches you the patterns and formulas of your craft or industry, to ensure that you create things with the right level of familiarity, while also giving you the feedback you need to hone your craft through deliberate practice. A Conflicting Collaborator—Everyone has flaws. In order to make them nonfatal, you need to find a person or a group of individuals whose traits compensate for your flaws. A Modern Muse—A life of creativity often involves getting your soul slapped around. You need to surround yourself with people who will motivate and inspire you to persevere, who can be a source of fresh ideas and even friendly competition to push you toward achieving your very best work. A Prominent Promoter—To be a creative success, you need to be recognized as one. A prominent promoter already has credibility and is willing to share it with you. Not only does this benefit you, it also benefits the prominent promoter, who now has access to fresh ideas that help keep them at the right point on the creative curve.