AuthorKind Archetypes (1): The Gatherer & The Incubator

Note: If you missed the intro to this series, you can find it here: Re-Introducing the AuthorKind Archetypes

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JL Tooker © 2026

The first two AuthorKind Archetypes often appear together, and are frequently misunderstood—especially in cultures that prize visible output.

They are not early stages to rush through.
They are not signs of avoidance.
They are foundational creative states.

The Gatherer

The Gatherer is oriented toward intake.

If this is where you are, you may be reading more than writing, observing more than producing. You’re collecting lines, images, questions, half-formed ideas. You notice what draws your attention—and what doesn’t.

This is not passive. It’s selective.

The Gatherer builds the internal archive from which later work emerges. Taste is being formed here. Discernment is being trained. Even when nothing is “made,” something essential is happening.

This state often feels like:

• curiosity without urgency

• attraction without obligation

What it’s good for

• developing depth and range

• recognizing patterns over time

• allowing ideas to arrive organically

A common misunderstanding
Gathering is often mistaken for procrastination. In reality, it only becomes a problem when intake never turns outward—when the shelves stay full and nothing is ever taken down.

The Incubator

The Incubator is oriented toward gestation.

Here, ideas are alive but unfinished. You may feel pressure without clarity, or a sense that something is forming just out of reach. There may be notes, fragments, outlines—or nothing visible at all.

This state is inward and often invisible, even to the person experiencing it.

Incubation can feel tense precisely because something is happening

The Incubator trusts that forcing articulation too soon can damage what’s trying to take shape.

This state often feels like:

• mental pacing

• low-level restlessness

• readiness without language

What it’s good for

• allowing coherence to emerge naturally

• protecting complexity

• aligning form with intention

A common misunderstanding
Incubation is frequently confused with “being stuck.” But true stuckness feels inert; incubation feels alive, even if uncomfortable.

How these two states work together

Gathering brings material in.
Incubation allows that material to settle and connect.

Many writers move back and forth between these states repeatedly—and often more than they realize. They are not preparatory in the sense of being lesser. They are preparatory in the sense of being necessary.

If you’re here right now, there is nothing to fix.

The only real question is whether you’re noticing where you are—or judging yourself for it.

A quiet reflection (optional)

You don’t need to answer this anywhere. Just notice:

• What have you been taking in lately?

• What idea feels present but not yet speakable?

That’s enough for today.