Giving feedback on others’ writing

Many of us not only write our own research papers, but also give feedback to students and colleagues on their writing. Feedback on writing has transformative potential, but must be handled carefully. In this chapter, we offer guidance for creating meaningful feedback conversations about writing. Feedback is more likely to be effective when it aligns with a writer’s needs, so we suggest starting with an orienting conversation about where feedback should be focused. Good feedback is specific, so we outline strategies for naming problems and suggesting action plans for improvement without resorting to rewriting. And good feedback focuses on the writing and not the writer, so we offer approaches to mitigating the threats to self-esteem that feedback may bring. Our goal is dialogue that nurtures growth and development.