I’ve been listening to Jordan B Peterson lectures on YouTube again. (Always super motivating and super depressing at the same time. Reality has a way of doing that to you.)

One of the hardest things to learn about creativity (and anything, really), is that potential means nothing. What matters is what you produce; your body of work.

For those of us just starting out on our creative journeys, it’s important to define what success means and cobble together some metrics to judge whether or not we’re heading in the right direction.

JBP and Shelly Carson created the Creative Achievement Questionnaire to test creative production (not merely creative potential!), and it turns out that it could make a perfect objective measure for achievement in creative pursuits.

My score is 11, which places me at the top end of the Novice Creative category. Mostly of those achievements happened in during my teenage years; I neglected to cultivate my creative talents in university and afterward. There are a couple of scores I could fudge to push myself into the Maker category, but that’s edging into “lying to myself” territory.

Now, as far as using this as a metric: looking over the scoring system shows that each creative domain is scored in a logarithmic scale of difficulty. It will take an immense amount of work to bump up my total score even 1 point, let alone a whole category. However, 1 more point will push me over into Maker–which I could make happen by next year.

If I really double down, I could push myself into the Creative category. I’ll have to formulate some concrete systems and goals to make that happen.

But! We now have a measure for creative output. Let us watch The Gap again and put it to good use.

Read on for the full questionnaire with my scores.

Creative Achievement Questionnaire

A. Visual Arts (painting, sculpture)
__ 0. I have no training or recognized talent in this area.
__1. I have taken lessons in this area.
__2. People have commented on my talent in this area.
__3. I have won a prize or prizes at a juried art show.
__4. I have had a showing of my work in a gallery.
__5. I have sold a piece of my work.
__6. My work has been critiqued in local publications.
*__7. My work has been critiqued in national publications.

B. Music
__0. I have no training or recognized talent in this area.
__1. I play one or more musical instruments proficiently.
__2. I have played with a recognized orchestra or band.
__3. I have composed an original piece of music.
__4. My musical talent has been critiqued in a local publication.
__5. My composition has been recorded.
__6. Recordings of my composition have been sold publicly.
*__7. My compositions have been critiqued in a national publication.

C. Dance
__0. I have no training or recognized talent in this area.
__1. I have danced with a recognized dance company.
__2. I have choreographed an original dance number.
__3. My choreography has been performed publicly.
__4. My dance abilities have been critiqued in a local publication.
__5. I have choreographed dance professionally.
__6. My choreography has been recognized by a local publication.
*__7. My choreography has been recognized by a national publication.

D. Architectural Design
__0. I do not have training or recognized talent in this area.
__1. I have designed an original structure.
__2. A structure designed by me has been constructed.
__3. I have sold an original architectural design.
__4. A structure that I have designed and sold has been built professionally.
__5. My architectural design has won an award or awards.
__ 6. My architectural design has been recognized in a local publication.
*__7. My architectural design has been recognized in a national publication.

E. Creative Writing
__0. I do not have training or recognized talent in this area.
__1. I have written an original short work (poem or short story).
__2. My work has won an award or prize.
__3. I have written an original long work (epic, novel, or play).
__4. I have sold my work to a publisher.
__5. My work has been printed and sold publicly.
__6. My work has been reviewed in local publications.
*__7. My work has been reviewed in national publications.

F. Humor
__0. I do not have recognized talent in this area.
__1. People have often commented on my original sense of humor.
__2. I have created jokes that are now regularly repeated by others.
__3. I have written jokes for other people.
__ 4. I have written a joke or cartoon that has been publihed.
__5. I have worked as a professional comedian.
__6. I have worked as a professional comedy writer.
__7. My humor has been recognized in a national publication.

G. Inventions
__0. I do not have recognized talent in this area.
__1. I regularly find novel uses for household objects.
__2. I have sketched out an invention and worked on its design flaws.
__3. I have created original software for a computer.
__4. I have built a prototype of one of my designed inventions.
__5. I have sold one of my inventions to people I know.
*__6. I have received a patent for one of my inventions.
*__7. I have sold one of my inventions to a manufacturing firm.

H. Scientific Discovery
__0. I do not have training or recognized ability in this field.
__1. I often think about ways that scientific problems could be solved.
__2. I have won a prize at a science fair or other local competition.
__3. I have received a scholarship based on my work in science or medicine.
__4. I have been author or coauthor of a study published in a scientific journal.
*__5. I have won a national prize in the field of science or medicine.
*__6. I have received a grant to pursue my work in science or medicine.
__7. My work has been cited by other scientists in national publications.

I. Theater and Film
__0. I do not have training or recognized ability in this field.
__1. I have performed in theater or film.
__2. My acting abilities have been recognized in a local publication.
__3. I have directed or produced a theater or film production.
__4. I have won an award or prize for acting in theater or film.
__5. I have been paid to act in theater or film.
__6. I have been paid to direct a theater or film production.
*__7. My theatrical work has been recognized in a national publication.

J. Culinary Arts
__0. I do not have training or experience in this field.
__1. I often experiment with recipes.
__2. My recipes have been published in a local cookbook.
__3. My recipes have been used in restaurants or other public venues.
__4. I have been asked to prepare food for celebrities or dignitaries.
__5. My recipes have won a prize or award.
__6. I have received a degree in culinary arts.
*__7. My recipes have been published nationally.

Scoring

0-5 – No/Beginning Creative Achievement – 29.19% of population. 0+% are below you in creative achievement.

6-11 – Novice Creative – 23.92% of population. 29.19% are below you in creative achievement.

12-16 – Maker – 17.94% of population. 53.11% are below you in creative achievement.

17-22 – Creative – 8.97% of population. 71.05% are below you in creative achievement.

23-27 – Innovator – 5.98% of population. 80.02% are below you in creative achievement.

28-32 – Originator – 4.55% of population. 86.00% are below you in creative achievement.

33-38 – Hephaestian – 2.99% of population. 90.55% are below you in creative achievement.

39-43 – Da Vincian – 3.59% of population. 93.54% are below you in creative achievement.

44-47 – Teslan – 1.2% of population. 97.13% are below you in creative achievement.

49-58 – Blakean – 1.2% of population. 98.33% are below you in creative achievement.

59+ – Promethean – 0.48% of population. 99.52% are below you in creative achivement.