Guest Post: Reasons to Peer Review

I'm excited today to have a guest post today by Allison Foster. Since a lot of you are writers as well as readers I think her article will come in handy. Happy Friday and remember to share the book love!

Reasons to Peer Review
Allison Foster

As much as it’s hard to swallow criticism, it’s a must for any writer that wants to better themselves. Go ahead and check your writing ego at the door and slide your work over to a peer. Want to better your writing? Offer to review a friend’s writing, here are reasons you should always give and get a peer review.

Allowing someone to read your work is a great way for you to learn and enhance your writing skills. Always have someone that is better than you at writing, read over your work. A peer that you consider a better writer will help you blossom by pointing out mistakes or better ways to word something. It’s tough and may be embarrassing at first but just remember that no writer gets to where they are without making a few mistakes and learning from them. To get the best review of your work, ask more than one better writer to review your work.

Offering to peer review someone’s work is a great exercise for any writer for two reasons. It challenges you to look for the good and bad in pieces, teaching you what is good and bad for your writing. Most importantly, it allows you to see another creative person and will help you gain ideas and inspiration on how to work. As a reviewer sometimes you feel like you don’t want to offend the writer that you working with, but it’s best that you are honest with your opinions, if you not-they will never grow as a writer. They are relying on you to better their work, with that said be sure to tread lightly and be kind with your word usage when critiquing. To give your best peer review, take your time when reviewing and give it several reads before marking and commenting. This will help give a better and well versed review.

Be open to suggestions and criticisms. If you disagree or feel like you are on the defense, talk them out with the peer reviewer or the writer being reviewed. Ask them for explanations and how you can grow from them. Do not take offense to their suggestions or responses, especially when you have asked for them. But with all this said also remember that not everything they suggest or offer is best for your or another writers writing style. Learn to listen and use everything to your advantage.

Author Byline:

Blogging for was a natural progression for Allison once she graduated from college, as it allowed her to combine her two passions: writing and children. She has enjoyed furthering her writing career with www.nannyclassifieds.com. She can be in touch through e-mail allisonDOTnannyclassifiedsATgmail rest you know.