James Glenn
While peer editing I noticed that giving constructive advice is easier than I thought even though I know it could offend the writer, knowing it will help them formulate a better paper. Everyone has their own unique writing style which can either be good or bad for the editor. A lot of times a writer puts his/her thoughts on paper without the concern that the reader may not totally understand what it is they are talking about. In this situation it makes it hard for the editor to give good advice because they don’t know where to start. In the papers I reviewed I got to experience editing a very well written essay and one that needed a lot of attention. It helped me because I could use the better essay to help guide the other essay. It also helped that the essay were all on the same topic which made it easier to compare. I felt comfortable about writing the responses because I know that often critical editing is very helpful and it gives an honest opinion to the writer. Although I was critical I made sure to include suggestions on ways to improve instead of just telling the writer they were wrong. It made me feel like I was giving the writers help that would make their essays stronger and get them a better grade.
After peer reviewing the 101 papers I got some motivation to do some editing of my own. I saw flaws in their papers that were similar to mine, some of the comments I gave to tem also apply to my writing. One thing I need to work on is my thesis, which in one of my 101 reviews was the main flaw in his paper. This actally helped me brainstorm new possibilities in formulating a stronger more precise thesis. I will also try to do better on making stonger transitions throughout paragraphs that lead up to my conclusion.
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