Or should one instead adopt the 'muscular aesthete' kind of pre-writing routine that entails a vigorous gymnastic workout to get the circulation of blood flowing, especially in cranial regions? Yet again, a more holistic, yoga-type experience may be just the thing to get you in a Zen frame of mind. And what if summoning the creative Zeitgeist actually involves a nice, long walk, with or without a dog, or perhaps a spot of double-digging in the garden.
Whatever your particular approach, a really successful avoidance strategy should aim at taking the day in question to the point where it is no longer a viable entity for doing any work at all. One where you would be better off shopping for (and then lovingly preparing) a particularly complex dinner - if need be preceded by a round of golf, game of tennis, tea with friends, or challenging DIY project.
If said dinner were to be something like authentic bouillabaisse made from scratch, it's not inconceivable that sourcing ingredients, grinding shells, etc, could take the whole thing into a really productive run of several consecutive days of absence from the keyboard.
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Modern technology has made available a whole new range of enhanced avoidance strategies. From dealing with essential emails or text messages, in which one exchanges jokes and banter with like-minded idiots, to reading the morning papers online, arguing the toss in the comments sections, or even finishing that game of internet chess. For today’s author, the world is a digital oyster.
It could be profitable, for instance, to determine the weather forecast not just for this day but for the whole week ahead. If sunshine is predicated, who would argue that the sensible will make hay while they can, and save the nerdy stuff for a rainy day?
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A word of warning. Advanced avoidance strategies are not for beginners, nor the faint-hearted. For each individual, it will be important to define the particular avoidance routines that suits them best. These can often be a matter of trial and error. On occasion – whisper it not in Gath - you may even find yourself experimenting with an avoidance strategy that actually is not preferable to sitting down and writing.
On the whole, this is unlikely.
- Edwin Riddell
