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- Read the work through once. Note where you lose track or have to go back to reread a
passage. See if you can summarize the main idea in twenty-five words or less. (If you
can’t, that sometimes indicates a problem with focus.)
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- Read it again after you have had some time to let the contents gel a bit.
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- First jot down what you liked best about the piece under
consideration. Does it have a clear focus? Do the details make you
see or feel the situation? Is the topic interesting?
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- Next write what bothered you or did not make sense. Did the
piece go from one idea to another without transitions? Was there a
lack of focus? Was there no concern for the reader?
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- Now pay attention to other general areas. Look at the beginning, the
end, the
overall unity. Are details used? Are they specific enough so that
you see what being discussed? In other words, has the writer shown
you, rather than told you?
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- What is missing (if anything)?
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- What doesn’t belong (if anything)?
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- While sentence construction, commas and such, should not be remarked upon in this
feedback phase, language use is fair game. Here you might discuss whether the language use
meets the needs of the piece. You might want to comment upon a preponderance of
clichés' which have no place in creative writing.
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- Finally, tell the writer what you would do to improve this piece of writing if it were
yours.
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Feedback can be valuable to both the editor and the author. We learn much
from reading the work of our peers: what to do and what not to do. My experience shows
that those who truly try to help their partners will receive the same in kind. Everyone
becomes a better writer. Those who put a minimal amount of energy into the process rarely
gain. Remember the old adage: You get what you give.