Revising with Feedback

Every writer, novice and expert, can make good use of a second opinion. While it is nice if that person is also good at spotting punctuation and spelling errors, it isn't the most important skill. Even the most basic reader can help improve your writing simply by pointing out where they get lost or confused as they read.

Types of Feedback

When asking for feedback, it is important to consider how much feedback you want before you ask for a second opinion. Peter Elbow, in his book Writing With Power, divides it into four levels of feedback: minimal, little, medium, and lots.

Minimal Feedback- This level of feedback is limited to just spelling, grammar, and usage. If possible, every paper should get this type of feedback from another set of eyes. Even if they don't know the rules themselves, your reader could just circle anything that seems wrong for you to look up later.

Little Feedback-This level of feedback is for those who either don't like feedback or they just don't have enough time left for major changes to the paper. In this case, the reader, in addition to looking for errors in spelling, grammar, and usage, also looks for places where he or she gets lost or confused.

Medium Feedback-This level of feedback is good for when you have made up your mind about your position, but you are willing or have time to make major revisions in your paper structure or content.

Lots of Feedback-This level of feedback is best for the earliest drafts of paper or at the prewriting stage when you are still trying to develop your arguments.

Kinds of Feedback

Criterion-Based Feedback- This type of feedback deals with how well your writing measures up to a certain set of criteria and are often used for judging papers. It includes categories like language use and organization.

Reader-Based Feedback- This type of feedback is more concerned with how your writing affects the reader. In other words, does it change their minds or move them to an action? Does this paper accomplish its purpose.