Write While True

Lou Franco
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  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Write While True is a writing podcast for programmers. Each episode is a writing exercise or prompt. Sit down at a keyboard and cue us up. When the show is over, it’s time to write.

  1. 12/20/2025

    47. Write Useful Books

    It’s been a while. Episode 46 came out in late January of 2025 and I’m recording this now in mid-December, so it’s been about 10 or 11 months. When I last left off, we were in the middle of season 4, and I was telling you about all the things I was learning as I was writing my book, Swimming in Tech Debt. Well, I’m happy to say that I finally finished Swimming in Tech Debt, and it came out in September of 2025, a couple of months ago. And then the print book came out about a month and a half or so later, and I’ve learned so much about the book publishing process that I want to share with you. Write Useful Books [affiliate] The Useful Authors community Transcript

    9 min

  2. 01/30/2025

    46. Write as Yourself to Yourself

    This is the 7th episode of season four. I started this season in January of 2024. My intent was to document the process of writing a book. But even though this season is over a year long, there have only been 7 episodes, and that’s because I took a 9 month break. I want to talk more about what happened during that break, and how I was derailed from my plans, and how I recovered. The Four Disciplines of Execution [affiliate link] On Writing Well [affiliate link] by William Zinsser Swimming in Tech Debt (my book) Help This Book (book sharing platform) Useful Books Community Transcript

    11 min

  3. 01/21/2025

    45. Gather Your Work

    But even with all of that new writing, a lot of the ideas and content are drawn from my blog. That’s what I want to talk about today — How I started this project by reviewing and gathering my work. My first step, at the end of 2023, when I decided that I wanted to write a book, was to immerse myself in my own writing, so I just read my blog. I just read all of the posts. Season 4 started with The Four Disciplines: 1, 2, 3, and 4 The Four Disciplines of Execution [affiliate link] Write While True Episode 13: New Ideas where I talked about … … A Technique for Producing Ideas [affiliate link] Morning Pages Write While True Episode 1: Training to Unblock Yourself Write While True Episode 19: Prompt Your Morning Pages Smart Notes Write While True Episode 2: Small Bits of Writing Journals Write While True Episode 21: Dedicated Journals Write While True Episode 22: Harvesting Journals Assembling first drafts Write While True Episode 3: First Drafts Transcript

    7 min

  4. 01/07/2025

    44. Write in Public

    My intention after episode 43 was to follow along the process of writing the book and share what I learned along the way. But, a few things happened that derailed me (in a good way). The Four Disciplines of Execution [affiliate link] Write While True Episode 23: Take a Break Taking a Successful Break Swimming in Tech Debt Follow-up on my Tech Debt Article in The Pragmatic Engineer Newsletter transcript

    6 min

  5. 04/08/2024

    43. Accountability Groups

    There’s a hole in this process, and we need to fill that right now. This only works if you’re doing the lead activities consistently, and if they really do build up to the end goal. It’s true that working on the book is intrinsically fun and interesting. And if that’s all that happened, I’d probably be okay with it, but I really do want a book in the end. Write While True Episode 40: Let’s Write a Pamphlet Write While True Episode 41: The Lead Measure Write While True Episode 42: Keeping Score 4DX: Applying the Fourth Discipline Useful Books Community Transcript

    6 min

  6. 03/30/2024

    42. Keeping Score

    As I mentioned in the past two episodes, I’m trying to write a short book, and I want to share the process as I’m going through it. For example, to help me structure my time, I’m using the book The Four Disciplines of Execution. In the last episode, I shared how I’m applying the second discipline. I defined an activity that I could do every day and a lead measure, a metric of that activity, that I could have as a goal for every week. The idea is that if I constantly achieve this lead measure, I believe that the larger goal will be achieved. My weekly goal is to spend at least one hour a day on five different days working on the book. It’s a goal that resets every week. That way, a bad week doesn’t derail me. Every Monday, I have a chance to try to win that week. But I have to remember to do it. Keeping this lead measure top of mind is what the third discipline is about. And that’s what I want to talk about next. Write While True Episode 40: Let’s Write a Pamphlet Write While True Episode 41: The Lead Measure How I am applying The Four Disciplines of Execution Transcript

    6 min

  7. 03/18/2024

    41. The Lead Measure

    My wildly important goal is to publish a fifty page book on a topic in my industry by the end of 2024. I defined it using the SMART goal format (S. M. A. R. T.), which means it’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. This is a good way to define goals, but the issue with SMART goals is that even though you can easily tell if you have reached them, they don’t drive day-to-day activities. That’s where the 2nd of the four disciplines comes in. Write While True Episode 40: Let’s Write a Pamphlet Write While True Episode 4: Make a Schedule Transcript

    5 min

  8. 03/09/2024

    40. Let's Write a Pamphlet

    For season four, which I’m starting right now, my plan is to take you through my process as I try to write a short, focused book. I expect it to be about 50 pages. I call this kind of book a pamphlet. 4DX: Applying the First Discipline Write While True Episode 13: New Ideas In Praise of Pamphlets Generating Podcast Episode Ideas Transcript

    6 min
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About

Write While True is a writing podcast for programmers. Each episode is a writing exercise or prompt. Sit down at a keyboard and cue us up. When the show is over, it’s time to write.

Information

  • Creator
    Lou Franco
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    47
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Copyright 2021 © Lou Franco
  • Show Website
    Write While True