How to Give Writing Feedback that’s Constructive, Not Crushing

Critiques must be handled with a deft touch, somewhere between soft-pedaling and soul-crushing. This advice will help you give constructive feedback that will leave the writer excited to make improvements rather than looking for the nearest rock to crawl under.

As a managing editor, I’ve helped writers produce more readable content. I thought I had a knack for giving useful writing feedback. That is, until a writer friend asked for my thoughts on her novel-in-progress. I gave them, pointing out where her plot seemed to lag and the characters felt flat. Surely she would be grateful for my insight and go forth to make her book even better, wouldn’t she?

Not so much. In fact, she eventually confessed that my comments caused her to shut down and stop writing for months, convinced she was doomed to fail and that her writing career was over.

Most people have good intentions and don’t want to give blistering critiques. (Well, there are a few surly critics, but they’re not the audience for this article.) You’re here because you want to learn how to give good, straightforward feedback that won’t make the writer defensive or, worst of all, deflate his or her spirit. Here’s how to make that happen.

Remember that creatives may experience imposter syndrome

We’re fragile people, we creative types. And, ironically, the more talented we are, the more likely we are to think we’re complete frauds—wannabe hacks undeserving of success.In fact, some creatives rack up impressive achievements all while feeling certain that, at any moment, someone’s going to expose them as nothing but a poseur.

This psychological phenomenon is called impostor syndrome, and it strikes writers who produce anything from poetry to fiction to monthly marketing reports. It may well be what you’re up against when you start giving a writer honest feedback. Even if she’s not outwardly admitting it, the writer may feel like she has no business writing and should give up and make way for the real talents.

The first problem of any kind of even limited success is the unshakable conviction that you are getting away with something, and that any moment now they will discover you.

—Neil Gaiman, author

Keep the writer’s psyche in mind when you’re preparing your feedback and make sure you acknowledge what they’ve done right as well as what needs improvement. Every piece of writing has some strengths, so look for them and be prepared to point them out.

Read the whole thing. Thoroughly.

Give the manuscript a thoughtful read-through (or two) before you give feedback. The writer is in a vulnerable position. He’s just handed you his baby and before you even hint that his newly minted child may not be attractive, you owe it to him to prove that you’ve invested more than a quick glance and offered a snap judgment.

Don’t skim. Read deeply. Take notes. If you can’t commit to this, don’t give feedback.

Forget about the compliment sandwich

You may have heard of the compliment sandwich, a technique for sandwiching criticism between praise. It’s often used by managers when giving their employees feedback, but it’s recognized by many professionals these days as ineffective. Think about it. Would this help soften a critical blow?

“I read most of your article and liked it, but your spelling awful and your grammar sucks. Are you sure you graduated high school? You did lay the manuscript out really well, though—good job!”

Instead, of sandwiching harsh criticism between empty positives, be honest. Don’t sugarcoat, but don’t trash the writing, either. “Diplomacy” is your watchword.

I’d hate to see spelling and grammar mistakes distract from a promising article. Have you tried using Grammarly as a second set of eyes to help with proofreading?

Ask questions that lead the writer in the right direction

The goal of a critique isn’t to show how much you know; it’s to help the writer expand on his potential. The best feedback leaves the writer feeling he’s had an awakening and knows what needs revision to make his writing work. Here’s an example:

Do you think there’s a way to simplify this paragraph? Shorter sentences could do the trick. What about reading it out loud to see where you can improve the flow?

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Don’t nitpick

Feedback is really about the quality of your suggestions, not the quantity. If the writer’s work needs proofreading, suggest a thorough line edit rather than picking at every little grammar, spelling, and punctuation nit. If passive voice or weak language choices are a theme, recommend that the writer take a closer look at those things.

A mountain of feedback, no matter how constructive, can be overwhelming. Choose a few of the most important things the writer can do to improve the manuscript, then point out an example to help them understand what you’re referring to.

Too many “to be” verbs can take the energy out of your writing. Perhaps you could identify some and rewrite them. Here’s an example:

He was walking walked to the market to meet Mary.

It’s a critique, not a review

Don’t treat feedback the same as you would a review. In most cases, when someone asks you for feedback, you’re looking at a work-in-progress, not a finished product. Giving feedback is about finding ways to suggest improvements, not declaring the work flawed and walking away. Share your ideas and tips.

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When you critique writing, your job is to determine whether the writer accomplished what they set out to do, whether that goal was to tell a good story or to write a convincing sales pitch. Focus on what the writer can do to improve the next draft and you’ll help them create a winning manuscript.

Geographical Use of the Definite Article, The

English uses the definite article, the, in front of some geographical names but not in front of others.

Geographical Use of the Definite Article (The) With Country Names

Typically, the article the is not used before the names of countries and territories:

Our flight to the China was canceled.

Our flight to China was canceled.

However, the is used before countries whose names are plural in form:

Have you ever been to Netherlands?

Have you ever been to the Netherlands?

The is also used with countries whose names include the words states, kingdom, or republic:

My sister lives in United States.

My sister lives in the United States.

My brother lives in United Kingdom.

My brother lives in the United Kingdom.

Other Rules for the Geographical Use of the Definite Article, The

Do not use the before the names of

continents (North America, Asia, Africa)

mountains (Mount Rushmore, Mount Everest)

islands (Saint Lucia, Antigua, Grenada)

streets (Broad Street, Wilson Avenue)

cities and towns (Birmingham, Seattle, Las Vegas)

states (Alabama, Washington, Nevada)

lakes (Lake Erie, Lake Kissimmee, Lake Rabun)

Do use the before the names of

points on the globe (the Equator, the North Pole)

mountain ranges (the Smoky Mountains, the Andes)

island chains (the Florida Keys, the Pacific Islands)

geographical areas (the East, the Midwest)

rivers, seas, and oceans (the Mississippi River, the Atlantic Ocean, the Nile River)

deserts and peninsulas (the Mojave Desert, the Balkan Peninsula

groups of lakes (the Great Lakes)

Language is always changing. Fifty years ago, Argentina was known as “the Argentine,” and the Balkan Islands always had the definite article in front of it. But Argentina is now perfectly standard and you may even hear people say “I come from Balkan Islands.”

First, Second, and Third Person

• First person is the I/we perspective.
• Second person is the you perspective.
• Third person is the he/she/it/they perspective.

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First, second, and third person are ways of describing points of view.

First-Person Point of View

When we talk about ourselves, our opinions, and the things that happen to us, we generally speak in the first person. The biggest clue that a sentence is written in the first person is the use of first-person pronouns. In the first sentence of this paragraph, the pronouns appear in bold text. We, us, our,and ourselves are all first-person pronouns. Specifically, they are plural first-person pronouns. Singular first-person pronouns include I, me, my, mine and myself.

I think I lost my wallet! I can’t find it anywhere! Oh, I could just kick myself!

We could do ourselves a favor and make a reservation for our group.

Many stories and novels are written in the first-person point of view. In this kind of narrative, you are inside a character’s head, watching the story unfold through that character’s eyes.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Second-Person Point of View

The second-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being addressed. This is the “you” perspective. Once again, the biggest indicator of the second person is the use of second-person pronouns: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves.

You can wait in here and make yourself at home.

You should be proud of yourselves for finishing this enormous project!

Stories and novels written in the second person exist, but they are much rarer than narratives written from a first- or third-person perspective.

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy.

Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

Third-Person Point of View

The third-person point of view belongs to the person (or people) being talked about. The third-person pronouns include he, him, his, himself, she, her, hers, herself, it, its, itself, they, them, their, theirs, and themselves.

Tiffany used her prize money from the science fair to buy herself a new microscope.

The concert goers roared their approval when they realized they’d be getting an encore.

You can’t always rely on pronouns to tell you the perspective of a sentence. Not all sentences include pronouns, especially in the third person:

Mike always hated school.

But if you look at this sentence and think “Mike isn’t me,” you can eliminate the first person. You can also think “I’m not talking to Mike,” so that eliminates the second person. You’re left with the third person.

Plenty of stories and novels are written in the third person. In this type of story, a disembodied narrator describes what the characters do and what happens to them. You don’t see directly through a character’s eyes as you do in a first-person narrative, but often the narrator describes the main character’s thoughts and feelings about what’s going on.

Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it.

Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

Speaking in the Third Person

Most of the time when people talk about themselves, they speak in the first person. It would certainly be eccentric to talk about yourself in the third person all the time, but you may do it once in a while for comedic effect or to grab someone’s attention.

Tina: Let’s get sushi for lunch. It’s Jeff’s favorite! Tom: No, Jeff hates sushi. I think he’d rather get burritos. Jeff: Um, does Jeff get a vote?

16 Original Pun-inspired Costumes to Wear This Halloween

To anyone who’s been following us on social media, it should come as no surprise that Grammarly loves puns—especially clever ones that we’ve never seen before. With Halloween just around the corner, we thought we would pull together some of the most creative ideas to spark your imagination.

1Drawn and Quartered

It’s a good thing puns aren’t considered treason! Follow this helpful tutorial to cover yourself in Pop Art makeup, then draw or hot-glue quarters to an old T-shirt.

2Cool Hand Luke

You can keep your cool hand, Luke . . . just don’t give us the cold shoulder! This simple, comfy costume is straight out of your dad’s joke vault. Pick out a comfortable outfit—anything will do. Make a name tag and write “Luke” on it. Then, for the clincher, paint your hand blue. You’re all set! If you want to beef up the authenticity, pick an outfit that really channels Paul Newman.

3Barewolf

This costume is so great we can barely contain ourselves! Becoming the Barewolf is easy. Take your standard, run-of-the-mill werewolf costume, but strip it down, using only the bare minimum—some fangs or wolf paws. Bonus points if you can find a nude-colored body-suit. The best part about this costume is you literally don’t have to try!

4Punk’in Spice

Would you tell Sid Vicious that he was basic? No, we didn’t think so. Get your teen angst on with this punk-inspired costume! The goal here is to put the “punk” in “punk’in spice.” After you get your punk look down, finish your look off with a “spice” name tag, or—if you’re feeling ambitious—build a wearable spice rack. Need some punk makeup tips? Check out this tutorial.

5Corn on the Bob

Put the corn anywhere you like; the costume is yours! And then add another little happy corn friend, because everyone needs a friend! With this costume, corn on the cob meets Bob Ross. Get an afro-style wig, unbutton your shirt maybe one button too many, and cover yourself in corn—painted corn cobs are even better.

6Australian Shepherd

This costume is doggone dinky-di, mate! Sometimes taking things literally has pun-tential. Think back to all those Christmases you spent staring at the nativity scene while your grandpa told you about his bunions for the fiftieth time. Channel your inner sheep herd, then brush up on your Aussie accent. DIY done.

7Ozzy Pawsbourne

Extra credit if you play “Bark at the Moon” and howl alllll night. This costume can be an individual costume or a couple’s costume with your pup. If you’re going solo, dress up as Ozzy Osbourne, equipped with collar, dog ears, and tail. If you’ve got a canine companion, you dress as Sharon and style your dog as Ozzy.

8The Red “C”

Ahhh, we sea what you did there. Wear a comfy outfit and top it with a red C. Simple AND clever.

9Mockingbird

“Hey, I like your costume!” “Hey, I like your costume! . . . ” Dress like a bird. You can go full DIY or get a great costume on Amazon, but the best part is you can playfully “mock” people all night.

10The Walking Bread

Graaains! Grrrrainnns! Mmmm! Who doesn’t love zombie bread? Get this great bread costume or a simple bread T-shirt and zombie it up with some make-up to become The Walking Bread!

Get your #2 pencils ready, folks! We’re giving extra credit for word-inspired costumes!

1Comma, Comma, Comma Chameleon

Everyone will have to pause to appreciate this awesome costume! Start by getting a chameleon costume, then attach some felt commas with velcro or hot glue. Voila!

2Colon or Semicolon Powell

“There are no secrets to [costume] success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” —Colin Powell This one is simple! Just find your most political suit, and snag a pair of glasses from the thrift shop! Attach colons or semicolons to the outfit with pins or hot glue. Check out Colin Powell reference photos to make sure you nail the look.

3Grammar and Grampa

Grams will give you cookies, as long as you know the difference between your and you’re. This is a costume for two. Grab your SO or bestie, follow this “old age” makeup tutorial, and grow old together! Gramps is done once he dons his suspenders and bifocals, but Grams will need some corrective phrases and a red pen to polish her look.

4To Kill a Mockingbird

It might be a sin to kill a mockingbird, but this costume is heavenly! See our earlier Mockingbird costume, but add a Halloween-worthy head wound! Here’s how.

5Hairy Potter

Yer an artist Hairy! Here’s some clay… Unless you’re naturally hairy, you’ll have to get a gnarly wig; the bushier, the better! Caveman costumes are good for this. Dress in your clay-covered overalls, get yourself a ceramic or clay pot and—just like magic—you’re a “Potter!”

6Thesaurus

This costume is great! Terrific! Amazing! Yeah, you get it. Initially, this one comes with a bit of investment in a good dino costume, but to complete the look all you need is a list of synonyms and some pins! Or, just walk around offering synonyms to everyone. “Your costume is scary, terrifying, horrifying, shocking . . .” A few dinosaur puns might also get you in the spirit.

4 Tips to Make Your LinkedIn Profile Stand Out to Recruiters

You could spend hours polishing your LinkedIn profile. As someone who has stared at several LinkedIn profiles to give recommendations, I know the hole you can fall into when you’re looking for a new job and need to “spruce up” your LinkedIn page.

Although you could take serious time to critically review, edit, and re-review each section of your profile, you probably shouldn’t. Your LinkedIn page is vital for landing a new role, with 87 percent of recruiters using LinkedIn to vet candidates, according to data from Jobvite. Luckily, it’s easy to optimize the elements recruiters are most likely to check first.

1 Make Sure Recruiters Can Find You

If recruiters can’t find you, they’re not going to reach out to you. It’s as simple as that. There are two ways recruiters can find you: through searches on LinkedIn or Google, and through their connections. Let’s start with search engines, since they’re easier to master.

Here are four simple steps to optimize your LinkedIn profile for search engines:

• First, think about the types of roles you want to pursue. Are you looking for something in a field you already work in? Are you just starting out in this field, or making a large career change? List out the companies and titles you’d like to pursue in a future job search.
• Next, take a look at people at your target companies who have the job titles you’d like, if you can. Can’t find anyone? Try a comparable company or a slightly tweaked job title.

Here’s a tip: Pro Tip: Want to stalk—I mean look—at someone’s LinkedIn profile without letting them know you “viewed” their profile? Search them in LinkedIn’s native search, then copy-paste their LinkedIn profile URL to a new incognito window.

After you’ve found some keywords in these profiles, make sure to add them to your tagline, summary, and skills (if they are skills you possess). Also, don’t forget to turn on the setting in LinkedIn that lets recruiters know you’re open to new opportunities! That way, recruiters will find you first when they’re looking for candidates.

2 Stand Out in Your LinkedIn Tagline and Summary

Once you’ve made yourself as discoverable as possible, it’s time to home in on the sections of your LinkedIn profile that matter. And that means getting back to basics.

When I asked Angela Ritter, a recruiter at Grammarly, what she looks for in a perfect LinkedIn profile, she called out three major features: job titles, taglines, and summaries. Let’s look at each of these individually.

• Job Titles: Job titles are the easiest on this list, since recruiters are simply looking for honesty here. As much as “padding your resume” has become a cliché, lying about your title at past companies is a bad idea. Your potential employer will double-check, so stay honest!
• Tagline: You can either use your current job title or an aspirational description of the role you’d like, based on the keywords you found above. This helps with your searchability, so feel free to pad it with two or three keywords to make yourself more discoverable.
• Summary: These don’t need to be long, but they should describe what you’re trying to accomplish in your career, as well as what skills and experience you’re bringing to the table. Need help writing one? Check out my guide to summaries here.

3 Connect, Connect, Connect

Now, let’s talk about connections. LinkedIn is designed to encourage the collection of connections from people in your address book, who went to your school, and even people you probably don’t know in real life. While you should connect with as many people as you know in real life, connecting with random professionals without a reason isn’t a good idea. At the end of the day, your connections represent people you (unconsciously) endorse, so try to connect only with professionals with whom you’ve shared some sort of experience.

That said, connections and recommendations are important to recruiters! Just hear what Alyssa Seidman, another Grammarly recruiter, had to say when I asked her about the value of LinkedIn to recruiters.

Often, before even looking at a candidate’s resume, I will go directly to their LinkedIn profile. This can provide social proof of how their past managers and colleagues felt about interacting with them. It also can give me a better sense of the candidate’s interests. In an instance where we have a mutual connection, it helps make the process more personal! –Alyssa Seidman, Recruiter at Grammarly

4 Proofread Your LinkedIn Profile, Then Proofread It Again

This isn’t the first time I’ve said this, but it bears repeating. The details of your LinkedIn profile are important! I have personally disqualified candidates because they had typos in their profiles, and pretty much every other hiring manager has done the same. Details matter!

I pay attention to detail in candidate LinkedIn profiles. I double check that the job title in their intro matches the job they are currently in, if they took the time to outline what they’re doing in their role (at least slightly), etc. Profile bios and intros are always something I look for as well. – Angela Ritter, Recruiter at Grammarly

7 Places Grammarly’s Mobile Keyboard Helps You the Most

Smartphone users, rejoice! Grammarly has finally made the long-awaited jump to mobile (both iOS and Android!), helping us improve our communication even when using our smartphones and tablets.

But how can the Grammarly keyboard really help your writing experience?

We’re glad you asked! Here are just a few of the important places Grammarly’s new keyboard can help you show up as your best self when you’re writing on mobile.

1Gmail

If you’re like me, you probably spend a lot of your time responding to email. And even if you’re tapping out a quick reply on the train, between meetings, or waiting in the airport, you still want your communication to come across as professional.

Having access to Grammarly on mobile is a huge relief. The new keyboard integrates seamlessly with Gmail’s mobile app and elevates your writing to the same quality standard you’re used to on non-mobile devices.

Now you won’t have to worry about emailing your boss that you’re “running large foe teh meeting.”

2Your Favorite Dating App

If you use a dating or networking app like Bumble or Match, making a great impression is the name of the game—and using bad grammar tends to have negative results.

Research by dating sites Match.com and Zoosk found that the majority of their users (both women and men) consider bad grammar a significant turn off. (Yikes!)

Having Grammarly for mobile frees up your creative energy for crafting witty profiles and creative messages, so you can stop worrying about simple errors and start reeling in those high-quality matches.

3SMS

These days we use our smartphones for writing more often than we use them for phone calls, and texting is by far the most prevalent form of mobile communication.

For years, texting has been plagued with over-zealous autocorrect features that transform our innocuous messages into hilarious and often cringe-worthy results.

So if you’re ready to drastically reduce the number of embarrassing texts you send to your crush, your boss, and your mom, Grammarly’s mobile keyboard is a must-have. It’s your personal editor for clear, effective, mistake-free writing on mobile!

4Instagram

Let’s face it, Instagram is all about the perfect presentation. From the photo to the caption to the hashtags, you’re telling a story or sharing an idealized moment.

So whether you’re captioning the perfect vacation shot or commenting on your friend’s latest quotivational post, the last thing you want is a slew of glaring grammar errors distracting from the message you’re trying to convey.

Grammarly’s mobile keyboard ensures your Instagram game is always on point—at least when it comes to grammar. (Sorry folks. If your feed is mostly grainy photos of your lunch. . . that’s on you).

5Facebook

For many of us, Facebook is that go-to app for “in-between” times, like your morning commute, the five minute break between meetings, your mid-morning bathroom break, or waiting for your friend to show up at dinner.

So much of our posting and commenting happens on mobile, it’s great to finally have Grammarly double-checking your writing, just like it does on your non-mobile browser.

Plus, grammar trolls love to lurk on Facebook, so it’s nice to avoid that unwanted scrutiny whenever you roll out your next Facebook missive on something you truly care about.

6Evernote

Do you use Evernote? This app may be one of the best ways ever invented to keep track of everything in your life, and it automatically syncs between all your devices—desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Having Grammarly for mobile helps you keep your notes in great shape, so you won’t have to waste time editing them later. And with corrected spelling, you’ll always be able to find what you’re looking for when you use the search feature.

Go ahead—dash off a list of project ideas, edit your novel outline, organize your family’s vacation, all on your smartphone, without worrying about rampant errors.

7Twitter

It’s the platform of up-to-the-second social commentary that’s sparked countless cultural phenomena, political coups, and gems like “covfefe.”

Twitter may only allow 140 characters per tweet (or 280 if you’re feeling adventurous), but good grammar should still be a priority if you want to be taken seriously.

And if you need to fudge things a little for brevity’s sake, it’s always better to choose where you’re cutting corners (i.e., substituting “&” for “and”) than to make errors you weren’t aware of.

Are you using Grammarly’s mobile keyboard? You can now download it for your iOS or Android device.

Is It OK to Make Typos in Work Emails?