Striver, Seeker, Icon, Leader

Writing divides into instrumental work, aimed at extrinsic rewards such as esteem and money, and metamorphic work, which aims to change the writer in unpredictable ways. Combining identity, sensibility, mode and maturity yields a typology of 16 creator types, grouped into Striver, Seeker, Leader and Icon archetypes. News reports, how-to guides and business books are described as rarely metamorphic, while poetry, private journals and memoirs usually have at least some metamorphic effect on their writers. Instrumental writing is estimated to outnumber metamorphic writing roughly 10 to one, though the most successful metamorphic pieces can go viral in a lasting way.