The document provides guidance on peer editing to improve writing. It advises that writers may know their topics too well to identify clarity issues for new readers. Peer editing allows writers to obtain feedback from others on whether their writing is appropriate, organized, clear, and concise. The document also notes that peer reviewing skills are useful for government work, where draft reviews and providing reviews to others is common. Advice is provided for both peer editors and writers on how to give and receive constructive feedback to strengthen writing.

1. PEER
EDITING
September 2015
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2. Knowing Your Topic
Too Well
• Few writers can rely on their own judgement to know
whether something they've written is clear to someone
else. For one thing, by the time we finish writing
anything, we usually know a lot about the topic. We
know it too well to tell whether it would be clear to
someone who is reading about it for the first time.
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3. Peer Editing Helps
Peer editing sessions give writers an opportunity to find out
what their writing looks like to someone else. Reviewers
can help you discover whether what you've written is:
• appropriate to your purpose and intended reader
• organized so that it's easy to follow
• clear, concise and easy to read
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4. Real World Application
Peer editing will also help you get used to having others
review your work. In most government workplaces, it's very
common to be asked either to provide your work in draft
form for others to review or to review draft documents
written by others. In either case, it's useful to know what
works best.
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5. When you are
the reader…
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6. Always read through a
piece twice
• Use your first time through just to get familiar with the
piece. Your second reading is your opportunity to really
try to understand what is being said and how. If you still
aren't sure after two readings, the writer needs to know.
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7. Take the role of the
intended reader
• What writers need most is someone who will read in the
same way as the intended reader will—that is, someone
who is reading for content not for errors. The most
valuable editing advice concerns content, organization
and style. Peer editors whose only comments are about
punctuation, mechanics or spelling may help the writer
write a more correct piece of writing, but it still may not
be clear or engaging.
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8. Avoid "fixing" the
problem
• Your role as peer editor is not to fix the problems you find
but to bring them to the writer's attention. Do not take on
the writer's work as your own. The biggest help you can
offer is to point out what works and doesn't work for you
as a reader. You may circle spelling or grammatical
errors you find but don’t correct them for the writer.
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9. Be honest but
constructive
• It can be hard to say what you really think about a piece
of writing. It's often tempting to say "Looks fine to me,"
but your writer will learn nothing from the exercise. A
good approach is to start by telling the writer what you
like and then mention what doesn't work. Be tentative:
rather than saying "This is really muddled" try something
like "I wasn't completely clear about what this sentence
meant."
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10. Be specific
• Try not to make blanket judgements ("It's really hard to
understand) or vague statements ("Your description here
is ok) in favour of specific instances ("This list really
makes the procedure clear"; "I think you need to make
this point more clearly"). Wherever you can, say why
you found that something worked or didn't work.
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11. Suggestions to
make
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12. Word Choice
o Did the author choose interesting words?
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13. Using details
o For example: seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling
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14. Organization
o Can you understand what the author is trying to say? Is it in the correct
sequence?
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15. Sentences
o Did they use various lengths and types?
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16. Topic
• Does the author stick to the topic or talk about other things that don’t really fit?
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17. When You are
the Writer
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18. Explain the purpose and
audience
• Always explain the purpose and audience to your peer
editor as well as any other information that will help your
editor understand what the intended reader of the piece
might need.
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19. Take advantage of the
opportunity
• Writers benefit from the feedback they get from peer
editors, even if they don't much like it at the time. When
you write, try to think of your work as open to revision.
Take advantage of having someone read your work to
make what you write clearer and more readable.
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20. Ask when you don't
understand
• Feel free to ask your editor for clarification if you find the
person's comments too vague or otherwise unclear.
Similarly, if your peer editor says what you've written
"looks fine" ask about specific parts of your draft ("Did
you think the purpose was clearly stated in my
introduction?").
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21. Don't take it personally
• If you feel rather bruised by the comments of your peer
editor, remind yourself that the comments are about your
writing, not about you. If someone finds what you've
written unclear, confusing, muddled, repetitive or just
plain boring, that's one person's opinion. Accept it and
see what you can do to correct it.
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22. Feel free to decline
• If you've considered your peer editor's advice and don't
feel that it's helpful, you're always free to ignore it. But
usually if a reader says there's a problem it's worth
taking a careful look.
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23. Credits
Created using information provided at the following website
by Susan Doyle:
http://web.uvic.ca/~sdoyle/E302/Notes/Peer%20editing.html
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