The Propulsion Model of Creative Contributions Applied to the Arts and Letters

This article applies a propulsion model of creative contributions to the arts and letters. The basic notion is that creative contributions differ not only in the amounts of creativity they display but also in the types of creative contributions they make. The article opens with a general discussion of creative contributions and next considers some existing models of creative contributions. It then describes the propulsion model for understanding creative contributions and suggests eight types of contributions that follow from the propulsion model. Next the article describes some contributions in the arts and letters and shows how the propulsion model can be applied to understanding them. Finally the article discusses why such a model can be useful in evaluating the status of creative work, of individuals, and of a domain.