How to Deliver Feedback

Some writers get to the finish line within two days of their first draft. Others, especially beginners, take months to finish an article. In the process, editors will need to give loads of feedback and maybe work with the writer one-on-one to get it to the finish line.

Throughout the process, delivering feedback in a softer manner gets you into less struggles with the writer and also offers them better constructive criticism. Try out these models to give feedback to writers:

1. Suggestions [Google Docs]

   
   

   

   When editors perform "surgery" on an article, writers are often miffed at how much their article has changed. Also, the editor might have misunderstood the writer's intent and squashed the meaning behind their words. To avoid this, use suggestions on Google Docs/ Word instead of making direct edits to give the writers a sense of agency – they can see the proposed edits and even argue against them if they think it distorts the purpose of their article. This also allows editors to comment their rationale so that the writer can keep it in mind for future reference.

2. Glow&Grow Model

   Contrary to the first approach, which allows editors to leave comments on specific parts of the article, the Glow&Grow Model makes room for holistic feedback on the article/ the writer's trajectory as a whole.

   
   

   To use this model, make a chart at the bottom of the document with two rows: one for glow and one for grow.

   
   

   

   
   

   In the "glow" section, highlight what the writer did well in three aspects; content, structure and style. In the "grow" section, highlight what the writer could improve on. With this method, This gets your point across while also giving the writer words of encouragement for what they did right.