How to give feedback on a manuscript

#thought #seedling #flashcards

An author offers their nakedness and a reader responds with their nakedness in return.

Writing is the attempted expression of a vision.

A reader's judgment on an author's writing is subjective and, therefore, limited.

A reader should openly acknowledge the subjectivity of their judgement on an author's writing.

A reader should remind a writer of their subjectivity before offering any feedback.

A reader's "nakedness" is their raw and honest human response to an author's writing.

Human responses a reader could give the author.

Ideally, a reader's response to an author's writing should contain a balanced amount of positive and negative comments.

Positive and negative comments in a reader's response to an author's writing should be mixed together.

"Art criticism is to the artist as ornithology is to the birds." — Barnett Newman

Authors should ask for critique only after they've already typed their manuscript.

When author's have already typed their manuscript, their vulnerability tends to have already lessened.

There are two tasks involved in providing feedback to an author's writing:

  1. Understanding the author's intent.
  2. Helping the author fulfill their intent.

In your first pass on the author's manuscript, focus on looking for interruptions in your reading flow.

Write your critical comments with an intention to teach.

Your comments should be about you the reader and not the writer.

Soften your criticism of the author's manuscript, because the author will magnify them.

Inserting your truth into an author's manuscript destroys the author's voice and vision.

When responding to an author's manuscript for the first time, offer more affirmation than critique.

Before responding to an author's manuscript for a second time, learn how the author used your comments and what their emotional response to them are.

When the author is still severely pained despite your careful delivery of comments, remember that you are not responsible for the wounds to self-esteem the author accumulated in their life.

Your second reading of an author's manuscript should focus on what you love about it.

Use pencil when writing your comments on a printed manuscript to accommodate change of mind.

At the end of the process, write a letter to the author, containing a summary of important issues.

The letter you write to the author should begin and end in thanks and praises.

In you letter to the author, urge them to ignore any comment that don't resonate with them.

Prompts

Using a metaphor to describe the process of an author asking for feedback on their writing, Schneider in WAAWO argued that both writer and reader offer nakedness to each other.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, writing is the attempted expression of a vision.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, when a reader passes judgment on an author's writing, the reader should think of their judgment as subjective and, therefore, limited.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, it isn't enough that a reader recognizes their judgment on an author's manuscript as subjective. They also have to publicly acknowledge it.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, when should a reader remind the writer of the subjectivity of their response? :: Before offering any feedback.

What does Schneider in WAAWO refer to as a reader's "nakedness" when responding to an author's writing? :: Raw and honest human response.

Four examples of "human responses" you can use to begin your feedback on a manuscript, per Per Schneider in WAAWO.

Four examples of "human response" phrases you can use to begin your feedback on a manuscript.

Four examples of "human response" phrases you can use to begin your feedback on a manuscript.

Four examples of "human response" phrases you can use to begin your feedback on a manuscript.

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I love this...

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what is the ideal ratio of positive and negative comments in a reader's response to an author's writing? :: 50:50

Per Schneider in WAAWO, how should positive and negative comments in a reader's response to an author's writing be positioned in relation to each other? :: Mixed together

"Art criticism is to the artist as ornithology is to the birds." — Barnett Newman

Per Schneider in WAAWO, at what stage of the writing process is best for an author to ask critique for their manuscript? :: When they've already typed their manuscript.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what tends to happen to a writer's vulnerability when they've already typed their manuscript? :: Lessens

Per Schneider in WAAWO, editing a manuscript is hard because it involves two tasks:
1.
2. Helping the author fulfill their intent.
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Understanding the author's intent.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, editing a manuscript is hard because it involves two tasks:

  1. Understanding the author's intent.

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Helping the author fulfill their intent.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, in your first pass on an author's manuscript for critique, focus on what? :: interruptions in your reading flow

Per Schneider in WAAWO, the main intention of her critical comments is to teach.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, human responses on an author's manuscript are messages about who? :: The reader (not the writer)

Per Schneider in WAAWO, why is it important to soften your criticisms on an author's manuscript? :: The author will magnify them.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, why should you avoid giving comments that insert your truth into an author's manuscript? :: It destroy's the author's voice and vision.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what is the ratio of affirmation to critique when she responds to an author's manuscript for the first time? :: More affirmation than critique.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what helpful knowledge should you gather before responding to an author's manuscript for a second time? :: How they used your feedback and their emotional response to it.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what should you think if an author is still severely pained despite you being very careful with how you deliver your comments? :: You are not responsible for the wounds to self-esteem the author accumulated in their life.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, your second reading of an author's manuscript should focus on what you love about it.

Why use pencil when writing your comments on a printed manuscript? :: To accommodate change of mind.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, the last stage in responding to an author's manuscript involves what? :: Writing a letter to the author.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, the letter you write to the author after commenting on their manuscript should primarily contain what? :: Summary of important issues

Per Schneider in WAAWO, the letter you write to the author after commenting on their manuscript should begin and end with what? :: Thanks and praise

Per Schneider in WAAWO, in the letter you write to the author after commenting on their manuscript, you should always urge the author to do what? :: Ignore any comment that doesn't resonate with them.

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what are the three stages of responding to an author's manuscript?
1.
2. Second pass
3. Writing a letter
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First pass

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what are the three stages of responding to an author's manuscript?

  1. First pass
  3. Writing a letter to the author
    ?
    Second pass

Per Schneider in WAAWO, what are the three stages of responding to an author's manuscript?

  1. First pass
  2. Second pass

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Write a letter to the author

Highlights

writing is—the attempted expression of a vision.

No human person is good enough, wise enough, experienced enough, excellent enough to pass judgment on another person’s vision

All that you have to give in response is what I am calling your “nakedness”—your own raw, honest, human response—this is what it means to me; this is what I hear; this is where I was confused.

acknowledge openly the fact that every opinion you entertain is subjective, is limited by your own taste, age, and condition

“Consider the source,” I say, and then I freely offer all of my responses—the hurrah and the but . . . mixed up together, and balanced.

Barnett Newman said: Art criticism is to the artist as ornithology is to the birds.

Most writers cannot type a manuscript without making changes, and so, if the work is typed, it has probably been revised. That means the writing already has been translated from its first pure outpouring of imagination or memory. Vulnerability is not as acute as it was when the images had just emerged from the unconscious. The sheer passage of time may have lessened the writer’s vulnerability.

the responses that are most helpful are just the human responses, “I love this” or “I’m confused here,” and so on.

the task is twofold, to try to understand the writer’s intent, and to help the writer fulfill his own intent.

paying particular attention to any moment when I am “popped out” of the writing by something that gets in the way of the flow of my own imagination as it follows the narrative or the poem. Such an interruption might be an awkward sentence, a change of tense, or a transition that doesn’t work for me. This first reading is crucial for catching those places that jar me, because the next time I read through the work, I will already know things about it that may obscure problems.

My effort is always to teach through my critical comments.

targets the problem and it makes it a message about me, the reader, not about you, the writer.

As much as possible, I qualify my comments, soften them. Remember, the writer will magnify every criticism ten times.

One of the biggest dangers lies in inserting your truth into someone else’s work and thereby getting that person off the track of their own voice, their own vision.

The first time I respond to a writer’s manuscript, I am extremely careful to have more affirmation than critique.

The next time that writer brings me a manuscript, I will know she can use my ideas, is able to disregard suggestions of mine that may be off base, will likely not be blocked or hurt by questions.

If the worst happens, do not be too hard on yourself. You are not responsible for all the ancient wounds to self-esteem that have accumulated in your writers’ lives.

After the first reading, in which I have jotted down my problems and questions, I read it through again and write what I love, underline favorite places, note with “Wow!” or “Wonderful” or more specific comments on the places where the writing most moves or delights me.

I always write my comments in pencil, because I may change my mind in light of what I read later.

I finish my response by typing a letter to the writer, summarizing important issues, and going into more detail if there is something that was too large for the pencil notes. I almost always urge them to ignore any comment that does not meet with an answering “yes” in their own minds. And I begin and end this letter with thanks and praise. I keep a copy of the letter in a file so I can go back and look over what I have given as response over the course of a person’s work with me.

References

Schneider, Pat. Writing Alone and with Others. Oxford University Press, 2003.