Writing to Win with Nick Guinn: The Power of Feedback: Elevating Your Writing with Feedback
Writing is a form of communication—a way to convey ideas, tell stories, memorialize stories and events, and connect with others. Like any skill, writing improves with practice, but there is another important element in every writer’s journey: feedback. Seeking and receiving feedback is not merely a step in the writing process; it is a tool that will significantly enhance the quality of your writing. This blog post explains why feedback is important and how to effectively seek and incorporate it to improve your writing. The post concludes with a personal experience regarding writing feedback.
Why Feedback is Important
Broadens Perspective
The creative process can be intensely personal and immersive. Writers often develop a deep connection to their work, which can obscure objectivity. Feedback acts as a mirror, reflecting not only what is there but what is missing or obscured. It offers diverse viewpoints, helping writers to see their work through the eyes of others. This broader perspective can unveil new possibilities for the narrative, deepen the complexity of arguments, or simplify overly complex ideas. It’s like stepping back from a painting to see the whole picture, not just the individual brushstrokes.
Identifies Strengths and Weaknesses
Feedback serves as a diagnostic tool, pinpointing the elements of your writing that captivate and engage, as well as those that detract or distract. Constructive criticism illuminates the path your writing takes in the reader's mind, highlighting the moments of connection and the barriers to understanding. Recognizing these strengths and weaknesses is essential for honing your craft. Strengths can be nurtured and emphasized, turning them into the hallmarks of your style. Weaknesses, once identified, become opportunities for targeted improvement and skill development.
Encourages Growth and Learning
Every piece of feedback is a challenge to your current level of skill and understanding, an invitation to expand your capabilities. It pushes you out of your comfort zone, prompting you to experiment with new techniques, explore unfamiliar genres, or tackle topics from different angles. This process of questioning, experimentation, and adaptation is at the heart of learning. It transforms writing from a static skill set into a dynamic process of continual evolution and refinement. Feedback does not just mold better writers; it cultivates lifelong learners.
Enhances Clarity and Effectiveness
The goal of writing is to convey thoughts, ideas, emotions, and narratives clearly and compellingly. Feedback acts as a gauge for your writing’s clarity and effectiveness, signaling when your message lands and when it misses the mark. It can reveal when a metaphor is too obscure, an argument too convoluted, or a plot too tangled. By addressing these issues, you can adjust your writing to be more accessible and impactful. Clear and effective writing is not about simplifying your ideas but about communicating them with precision and nuance, ensuring they resonate with your intended audience.
In essence, feedback is the catalyst for transformation in the writing process. It bridges the gap between the writer’s intention and the reader’s perception, aligning them more closely. By welcoming feedback, writers not only improve their current work but also lay the groundwork for their future growth and success.
How to Seek and Incorporate Feedback
Choose Your Feedback Sources Wisely
Not all feedback is created equal. Look for feedback from readers who are part of your target audience, fellow writers, or professionals such as editors or writing instructors. Their insights are likely to be more constructive and relevant. That said, there are instances, where I welcome a wide audience of readers, especially when I my goal is to simplify my explanation of a complex subject. If I can educate or persuade a reader who is less sophisticated than my intended audience, then I am on the right track.
Be Specific in Your Requests
When seeking feedback, be clear about what you are looking for. Are you concerned about the flow of your narrative, the clarity of your argument, or the development of your facts? Directing your readers to focus on specific aspects can yield more actionable insights.
Create a Receptive Mindset
Receiving criticism can be challenging. Approach feedback with an open mind and a willingness to learn. Remember, feedback is not a personal attack but a tool to help you improve. Distinguish between subjective opinions and objective critiques that can enhance your writing.
Implement Feedback Judiciously
Not all feedback will be applicable or in line with your vision for your work. It is important to evaluate the feedback you receive critically. Consider the suggestions, but also trust your instincts as a writer. The goal is to refine your work, not to lose your voice or the essence of your message. Of course, if your writing is unclear to the person giving feedback, there is a good chance that your writing is unclear.
Engage in a Continuous Feedback Loop
Improving your writing through feedback is not a one-time event but an ongoing process. Continue to seek out critiques, reflect on your progress, and refine your work. Over time, this cycle of feedback and revision will lead to noticeable improvements in your writing.
Plan Ahead
If you have a deadline, give yourself (and your reviewer) adequate time to review your work and incorporate the feedback. If your deadline is Thursday and you know that your reviewer is unavailable Wednesday, you might want to give the document to your reviewer by Tuesday.
A Nugget from Nick
I would like to share some of my personal experiences on this topic. For many years, I was private about my writing. I am not sure why but I suspect it stemmed from a lack of confidence in my writing skills or a fear of receiving criticism. I studied chemical engineering during my undergraduate years, which gave me confidence in my math and science skills. It did not give me confidence in my writing skills. In all fairness, however, engineering students produce their fair share of writing samples, albeit lengthy lab reports. Regardless of whether my fear was misplaced, I was intimidated by the prospect of having my writing work product reviewed by lawyers and judges who studied the liberal arts and wrote essays for breakfast.
When I joined the law firm, I received a lot of constructive criticism from the more senior attorneys (i.e., everyone else in the firm). Initially, I thought it was a result of poor writing. It did not help that I also suffer(ed) from Imposter Syndrome.
Within a few months, my friend and former colleague, Jason McKinnie, asked me to review a motion that he had written. Jason was known as a strong writer in our firm. I was honored—and a bit surprised—that he asked me to review the document. I was not sure what I had to offer. Nevertheless, I reviewed the motion. Much to my surprise, I found several items that either required revision or could improve with revision. I shared my edits with Jason. Jason welcomed the revisions and told me that he would incorporate all of them. Jason could tell I was surprised and he shared one of the greatest lessons I have learned about writing. That is, writing is a team sport. You can work on a writing project until you are blue in the face but it will never be perfect without input from others. Stated differently, as the writer, you often have the benefit of knowing more about the subject than your reader and you know what you meant to say. These truths make it difficult to fully and effectively edit your own work. By recruiting a second set of eyes to review your work, you get a fresh perspective. The reviewer can tell you if a sentence, a paragraph, an argument, etc., is unclear. Jason reiterated, “if the reader does not understand the sentence, then your audience probably will not either.”
I have received excellent advice from each of the attorneys in our firm (past and present). I will share other nuggets with you in future blog posts.
Conclusion
Feedback is a powerful catalyst for improving your writing. It provides the external perspective necessary to refine your craft, challenges you to grow and learn, and helps ensure your writing communicates effectively. By actively seeking and thoughtfully incorporating feedback, you can elevate your writing from good to great. Remember, every piece of criticism is a stepping stone on the path to becoming a better writer. Embrace the process and watch your writing transform.
