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Mar 21, 2023Liked by Kent Beck

Thanks for this little peek behind the curtain; I find your humility and openness about the writing process (and design, too) refreshing. Reminds me of something I recently read on some social media platform or another: [paraphrasing] "Low-skilled people gain (undue) confidence from their lack of understanding of their own poor decisions and executions. It's the truly gifted who remain humble, driven by their constant questioning of things, including their own skills."

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Nice one on the incentives with paid subscribers, and (now) by signing with O'Reilly (and congrats!)

Incentives are an interesting one. I was on a similar path to where you might have been when you started your newsletter. In 2021, I was 2 years into writing a book that I wanted to finish, on software engineering careers/advice. I was past signing with a publisher, but also past breaking the agreement, as it did not feel like the right fit.

I was hesitating taking another several months to finish the book, versus starting a newsletter where I'd have to write weekly (though not necessarily topics on the book). I chose to give the newsletter a go. The contract with the readers (paid subsciptions!) helped with the accountability with the newsletter, but not with the book, which fell by the wayside.

It's smart, how you have been writing the book along, and reminds me of the approach taken by Hardcore Software by Steven Sinofsky (https://hardcoresoftware.learningbyshipping.com/)

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Loved reading this, as it took me down my memory lane. So much respect for Ed Yourdon's work including OOA/OOD books. I recall how his book Death March which spoke directly to me as an engineer thinking about what my managers were doing to put me on these death marches. Ed Yourdon, Larry Constantine, Peter Coad, and many others whose work I admired and learned from back in the day, much of it still relevant today. We are standing on the shoulders of giants, but we don't seem to realize.

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Wow. Thanks for writing out your story

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