If you are the reviewer:

• Set aside enough time to give high quality attention to your fellow writers’ work.

• Remember, it is a privilege to have access to a writer’s work-in-progress.

• Please do not share or discuss the writer’s work with anyone else outside the group.

• Remember, we do not fully know the circumstances of each other’s lives, and we don’t always know the amount of courage it has taken to share a piece of writing.

• Read carefully the additional blurb supplied by the writer. What kind of feedback is the writer looking for? Don’t stray from their request.

• The writer will remember the words you use to describe their writing. Remember to present your comments with care. Be sensitive. Be kind. Be positive.

• As humans, we have an infuriating inclination to zone in on the negative. Remember to balance your comments with the good stuff.

• Always support your comments with evidence - reference the text.

• If the writer requests, be prepared to explore new ways forward with the writer.

• As readers, we are all liable to project our own experiences upon a text. Be prepared to ask yourself what of your own history / attitudes might be informing your reaction.

• Use the opportunity to deepen and develop your own skills as a writer. We can apply all this work to our own practice.

• Let’s leave our fellow writers feeling good about themselves and alert to the possibilities of their writing.

If you are the writer:

• Prepare your additional blurb carefully. State what kind of feedback you, as a writer, are you looking for. Be as explicit and specific as possible. Ask the reviewer direct questions. You guide the feedback process.

• Remember, a group of real and receptive human beings (with their own histories, humour, sensibilities, tastes, passions, vulnerabilities, and flaws) reading and responding to our work can be a hearty and expansive experience. Enjoy the ride!

• Remember, your reviewer comes to your writing with their own “baggage” (they are human after all), which could occasionally affect their perception of your writing.

• Remember, your writing will not please everyone, and nor should it.

• Remember, your writing may not be your reviewer’s “thing”, and that’s okay.

• Remember, it is not personal. Your reviewer is responding to the writing, not giving feedback on you as an individual. The writing and the writer are separate things.

• You can cherry pick the feedback that resonates for you and your project.

• Don’t feel obliged to make changes or bend your work to accommodate the whims of others.

• Keep a connection to what inspired your project in the first place.

• Does your writing feel true. Well, maybe that’s all that matters!