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Re:Overcoming coder's block by tonystubblebine on Thursday March 11, 2010 @11:38PM (#1185795)
Cory Doctorow has a saying for his writing students: "Surgeons don't get surgeon's block."

I think the point is that the idea of professional block is just a fancy name for procrastination. However, I don't think he did any actual research with surgeons, so I can't say whether they procrastinate or not.

Re:Overcoming coder's block by iends on Thursday March 11, 2010 @11:48PM (#1185806)
Surgery is not a creative process, at least, most surgeries shouldn't be. Instead, surgeries should be performed by somebody who learned about the procedure in medical school, and then performed it multiple times.

At least, any surgeon I'm paying...

Re:Overcoming coder's block by gruseom on Friday March 12, 2010 @12:55AM (#1185911)
A well known poet (I forget who) taught creative writing for years at a small Midwestern college (I forget which). His rule was that his students had to write a poem a day. One day a student said, "Professor X, I'm trying to follow your rule, I sit down to write, but I just don't get any inspiration. Do you have any advice for me?" His reply: "Lower your standards."