How to Respond to Partners

Overview

When responding to your partner’s write, always respond in a positive and encouraging way. Write at least a short paragraph of feedback, enough for your partner to feel your attentive presence. Tell your partner what you like about a write — your favorite parts, what works well. You might start with something like: “I loved the energy of this write!” Or: “This is a fascinating topic. It really made me think.” Or: “I love how the narrator is willing to be so open and vulnerable.”

Point out strengths, not weaknesses. Comment on what is there, not on what you wish was there. Responding does not mean critiquing by giving advice about craft or how you think the write could be made better, or how you think it could be expanded (or shortened or revised). It makes no sense to critique raw, rough writes done in 10 to 12 minutes as this is fresh material generated without time to edit.

The partnering experience may be the most powerful element of Round Robin. Receiving encouraging responses helps us to claim our own unique voice, and responding to a partner with what we’re drawn to and why increases our awareness about writing itself. Even if you don’t love your partner’s writing, you can find something positive to say. The aim is to help your partner feel good about their writing, to feel hopeful, excited and increasingly confident. When people feel encouraged, they will continue writing. If they continue, they will make progress, and they will learn more and more about craft as they progress.

Tips and Strategies

Respond from your feelings. You might say something like: “The story had me on the edge of my seat.”

Find a focus in your partner’s write to respond to. For instance, you might concentrate on a beautiful setting, or a compelling character, or an energetic voice.

Sometimes your partner’s write will be chock-full of ideas or thoughts about culture. You could respond to elements that ring true to you, or which you feel are insightful or wise, and comment on how and why.

You might comment on your partner’s write as a scene. Perhaps the dialogue is strong, or there is impactful dramatic conflict. You could share why these elements are working.

If your partner is writing poetry, you might point to images you love and explain why, or share the emotional impression the poem left on you, or comment on what you perceive to be the poem’s subject, or what the writer does with the ending.

If your partner seems to be working on a larger project (e.g., they’re sending sequential scenes from a short story or scenes from a novel/memoir chapter), respond only to the write you get on a given day. You do not have to respond to the entire sequence! When you get a write that you know is a part of a sequence, try to focus on a single element, like voice, dialogue, setting, or character.

You should offer your partner a brief written response, at least a short paragraph. But you don’t have to respond in words only. For instance: You can put your favorite parts in bold. Or underline them. ***Or put asterisks around them.***

When you do respond in words, you don’t have to use complete sentences.

Refer to the voice in the write as “the narrator.” Don’t assume that the content in a write is true or is about your partner’s life. This is essential. Maybe they are writing fiction. Or maybe it’s a combination of truth and fiction. You don’t know. Jane Underwood, founder of the Round Robin, once wrote, “I have been fooled many times, thinking that a student was writing from their own life, only to find out later that it was totally made up.” Instead, think of the voice in the write as the voice of the narrator.

Avoid personal opinions and side comments. Do not offer your personal opinions about the content of the writing or about your partner’s personal life. In fact, it’s crucial that you not assume that the content is true or is about your partner’s life. Examples of comments to avoid:

  • “What if you tried talking to your boss in person and explaining about your allergies?”
  • “Your boyfriend sounds like a real jerk! Dump the guy. Seriously, Joan, you deserve so much more.”
  • “Have you ever considered quitting your job and becoming a freelance consultant?”
  • “My ex-husband did that all the time! Don’t believe him.”
  • “If you’re having trouble being honest in your essays, maybe you should try switching to fiction.”

Avoid negative comments or suggestions for improvement such as:

  • “Suggest delete”
  • “How about using more active verbs rather than passive verbs?”
  • “This is a bit of a cliché.”
  • “Run-on sentence”
  • “What if you put this sentence first and moved that one to the end?”
  • “You’re telling but not showing here.”
  • “How about some dialogue instead of paraphrasing?”
  • “This is really hard to follow and you are contradicting yourself.”
  • “You could cut this whole paragraph and it would flow much better.”
  • “You’re jumping around; I think your best bet would be to focus on
your father, not your mother.”

When a negative critique pops into your mind, focus on something else that is more positive. As an example, maybe you think that they are telling too much, as opposed to showing. You are longing for details, concrete images, specifics, colorful details. But there aren’t any! Find something else to comment on: “You are incredibly brave to attempt writing about this topic. I admire that.” Or: “LOL. This part is hilarious! : )” On some other day, when that partner does use concrete images and specific details, then praise them to no end!

Do not use an AI chatbot, such as Chatgpt, to generate feedback. Although there is a way to use AI tools to brainstorm before responding to a write (e.g., it can provide suggestions for finding a focus for feedback, or tips for how to “talk” about craft elements), it’s not acceptable to send AI-generated content as feedback. Even if we don’t intend it, this goes against the spirit of Round Robin, which promotes encouraging, attentive, and individualized feedback.

Sample Partner Responses

Responses are positive and encouraging, have a clear focus, respond to the writing itself, refer to the “narrator’ in the piece, are not personal, key into craft elements, express feeling, and are at least a short paragraph in length.