How to Give Writing Feedback Authors Crave: the Ultimate Guide

Explore the craft of giving writing feedback and how this process can elevate your writing and the work of others. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

CONTENTS:

• What is writing feedback?
• What are the benefits of giving feedback?
• Elements of a good writing critique 
• How to give writing feedback: 7 steps
• Love giving feedback? Here's how to do it more often 

What is writing feedback?

Writing feedback is the art and craft of reviewing a written work-in-progress (WIP) to identify what works and what doesn't and then delivering your impressions in a way that helps the author improve their work. As we'll explore in more detail, writing feedback can take the form of verbal or written commentary addressing a WIP's strengths and areas for improvement. For example, when reviewing a piece of creative writing, such as a novel or short story, you might praise the author's compelling cast of characters, while alerting the author to plot points that need development. 

Critique vs Feedback: These terms are often used interchangeably to refer to the opinions, impressions, and suggestions you offer about fellow writers' work. A critique is typically a formal, in-depth review of the work, while feedback includes responses of any length or level of formality, including short, general comments. You may also come across the term "constructive criticism," a form of feedback that focuses specifically on how to improve a piece of writing, without demeaning or discouraging the author. 

What are the benefits of giving feedback?

Giving and receiving feedback is an indispensable part of the writing process, because it lets writers know where their work stands at a given moment. Receiving feedback means you can see your project through others' eyes, gather diverse perspectives, and make informed decisions about how to keep writing. Offering feedback means you can contribute to others' success and growth as writers. 

Let's explore some additional benefits of giving feedback: 

Raising your own awareness of craft

By closely reviewing others' work, you develop a keener sense of what a plot needs, how to develop characters more fully, how to address clarity or coherence issues, and more. With heightened awareness of craft, you can turn your attention to your own projects, identify areas for improvement, and hone your writing skills. 

Building friendships with other writers

By offering feedback, you engage in meaningful conversations about writing and influence how others develop their work. Over time, you can build strong relationships within the writing community and create a system of support and commitment to excellence. 

Becoming a trustworthy, authoritative voice in the writing world

As you become more skilled at offering feedback and helping more writers, you'll gain a reputation for being a knowledgeable source of support. This reputation can open doors to many professional opportunities, such as teaching writing workshops, offering editing services, or creating educational content about writing. 

Interested in other professional avenues in this industry? See my article, "How to Become a Professional Writer: 7 Steps to Launch Your Career."

Elements of a good writing critique 

Offering writing feedback is valuable opportunity to explore your knowledge and support other writers. Sometimes, though, it can be a challenge to know exactly what to say in your critique. What kinds of comments will best help others? What's the best way to deliver praise and encouragement? How can you alert writers to ways they can improve their writing in a positive, upbeat tone? 

With some planning and practice, you can craft writing critiques that writers enjoy receiving and get value from. Here are the elements of a good critique:

Clear, honest impressions

Tactfully tell the author what you really think of their writing sample. What strengths does it exhibit? What opportunities does this author have to develop the piece further? 

Specific encouragement

Beyond being tactful, you should offer encouragement. The goals here are to:

• Fuel the author's enthusiasm for their work-in-progress and writing in general.
• Highlight what they can accomplish when they implement your feedback.  
• Boost their confidence in their writing abilities.

Actionable advice

Empower the author to take action. What writing techniques and strategies will help them improve their writing? What concrete tasks can they do to address trouble spots in their piece of writing? 

Hear from a member of my writing community, the Author Exchange: "Being able to give feedback on someone's writing is an honor. It's exciting to be part of another writer's journey, and I take that responsibility seriously. Writers need to support each other, and by analyzing someone else's work, I also gain insights into my own writing." —Ellen Ellzey, writer, instructor, adventurer

How to give writing feedback: 7 steps

Over the years, I've helped writers in different capacities: editing manuscripts, grading student papers, teaching writing classes, creating writing courses, coaching writers one-on-one, and leading critique sessions. As a writer and author myself, I've received all sorts of feedback from professors, literary agents, fellow book coaches, editors, and the writers I coach, and used it to bring out the best in everything I write. 

Exchanging feedback has been at the center of all of this work, and through it, I've developed a highly effective critique procedure that inspires writers and leads to better work. In this guide, I've outlined my procedure in seven steps to help you make a meaningful impact on every writing sample you critique. With practice, this procedure will become second nature, and as writers see the positive difference your feedback makes, they'll crave even more.  

1. Define your writing support role. 

You can offer feedback to writers in different capacities, depending on the role you fill and the level of writing support you want to provide:

• As a critique partner, you would offer feedback at the peer level. Critique partnerships are reciprocal relationships between two writers who agree to exchange feedback on their respective works-in-progress.
• As a beta reader, you would offer feedback to a writing peer before they pitch their work to an agent or submit it to a publisher. The goal is to provide the writer with impressions of how a reader might react to the work. 
• As a professional editor, you would provide several layers of feedback: in-text changes or markup on the manuscript itself to improve grammar, clarity, voice, and structure, as well as comments on how the author can further develop the work to meet industry standards.  
• As a writing coach or book coach, you would offer both creative and strategic suggestions to help the writer develop their manuscript, as well as evaluate the manuscript itself for opportunities to improve it. You'd also offer advice on how the writer can overcome challenges, cultivate a success mindset, and achieve their goals. 
• As a writing instructor, you would create educational material that teaches writing concepts, techniques, and strategies. You'd also help students apply their learnings to the projects they're working on and offer personalized feedback on writing samples. 
• As a writing group leader, you would create a supportive environment where writers can share their work and receive feedback from you and their peers. You'd also guide in-depth discussions of writing craft and ensure that each group member feels empowered and encouraged. 

2. Get into the right mindset.

Offering supportive and actionable feedback requires you to get into a generous, empathetic, and collaborative mindset. Take a moment before every critique to recall these mantras:  

• Every work-in-progress, no matter its state, deserves a good critique. 
• Every fellow writer, no matter their level of experience, deserves writing support. 
• It takes courage to share a work-in-progress and ask for feedback. I will honor this author's courage by giving their piece the critique it deserves. 
• I take pride in encountering others' work and helping writers succeed. 
• Every critique I offer makes me a more conscientious writer and valuable member of the global writing community. 

3. Establish trust with the writer. 

Before you begin the critique, sit down with the author of the writing passage to understand their creative vision and where they are in their writing journey. That way, you can customize your feedback to their specific needs. 

Ask questions to find out: 

• Their level of experience
• Their overall writing goals
• The goals they have for the sample you're critiquing
• How much they've written of the piece and the length of the sample
• Which stage of the writing process they're in, such as exploring, drafting, or revising
• Their unique writing approaches and ways of getting words on paper
• Challenges they're facing, such as writer's block, self-doubt, or difficulty with technique or execution 
• The kind of feedback they're looking for: general impressions or detailed recommendations for improvement

You'll also need to agree on a due date for delivering feedback, so that you can stay accountable and follow through on your intentions. Some critiques you might deliver on the spot, especially if the work-in-progress is short (1,000 words or less) and shared aloud during a group critique session. Other critiques will take longer, if the passages are lengthy, such as whole chapters or scenes. In these instances, you might offer to complete the critique in one or two weeks. 

4. Review the passage to find gems and opportunities. 

Once you've defined your writing support role, gotten into the right mindset, and established trust with the writer, you're ready to begin the actual critique process. Review the writing sample in its entirety, with the goal of finding gems and opportunities.

I use the term "gems" to refer to areas of a work-in-progress that exhibit excellence in craft. For example, in a work of fiction, gems might include dynamic characters, riveting scenes, elegant sentences, or compelling themes. 

I use the term "opportunities" to refer to areas of a work-in-progress where the author can unlock more excellence. In a work of fiction, opportunities include adding more detail to a scene, improving dialogue among characters, clarifying the protagonist's motives, and strengthening the story arc.  

By using these terms, we keep the tone of the critique positive, focusing more on all wonderful possibilities ahead and less on "mistakes" and "problems."  

Want a quick refresher on the craft of writing a novel? See my article, "How to Write a Novel: 6 Key Steps + Why They Work."

5. Prepare and deliver your feedback. 

Once you've identified the writing sample's gems and opportunities, prepare your feedback in an easy-to-digest format. This could be a few sentences you'll deliver orally, an informal conversation with the author, a written document with a list of recommendations, or a hybrid format. 

For both verbal and written feedback, my advice is to keep the volume manageable. While it's tempting to make an exhaustive list of everything the author could do to improve the piece, doing so can overwhelm the author and make it harder to take action. Focus on the priority opportunities and the actions they can take in a few days of weeks. You can always extend your feedback to a second or third round, as the author proceeds through revisions.  

Feedback tip: In the instances when you have time to craft written feedback, start the document with general comments about the writing sample you're reviewing. Next, include detailed and genuine praise of all the gems you found. Then, list opportunities for improvement. Conclude the document with a short action plan, three or four main tasks the author can complete to improve their work, and a few words of encouragement.

 7. Ask how the feedback lands. 

After delivering your feedback, make sure author understands your comments and feels empowered to revise effectively. If they express any overwhelm or uncertainty about implementing your advice, suggest ways to break up the action plan into smaller tasks that they can tackle one by one. 

Invite the author to reach out with questions or short snippet of an area they revised, based on your feedback. This shows that you support them throughout the process and have a vested interest in how your feedback lands.  

Read my article, "4 Writing Feedback Examples to Help You Give (and Get) Better Critiques," to see feedback from real writers and get ideas for how you can support the writing buddies in your life. 

Love giving feedback? Here's how to do it more often:

As you continue offering writers feedback, you'll likely find that you enjoy being in a support role and want to find more opportunities to critique others' work. 

Start by forging connections with as many writers as you can and announcing your availability as a beta reader or critique partner. Here are some strategies you can try:

• Joining a writing critique group.
• Taking writing workshops.
• Joining a feedback-based platform like CritiqueMatch
• Creating a writing-focused social media account.
• Searching social media hashtags like #betareadersneeded (5,400+ posts on Instagram) or #betareaderswanted (3,400+ posts on Instagram)

Eventually, you could pursue a professional career as a mentor to writers and become a well-known leader in the global writing community. 

Want to find people to critique your writing? Check out "How to Get Feedback on Your Writing: a Practical Guide." Here, you'll discover an empowering process for requesting feedback, receiving it gracefully, and applying it with confidence.