[Note: This suggestion was posted in the class WebCT Student to Student Help Forum.]

Author: Christopher McNeal

Date: Thursday, May 31, 2007 2:27pm

In my experience as a writer and critic of other writers, all too often I notice a strong apprehension for students to evaluate their peers. In a classroom setting, students will glance over the paper once, marking as little as possible while the author of the paper watches them silently for any misdeed. As students in an online setting, we have the luxury of anonymity as we (most of us, at least) do not interact physically. Critiquing and editing are not harassment or meant to be negative in any way, when done properly. The whole goal of the process is to become better writers and more thoughtful in structuring our arguments. The whole problem with this is our ego's attach to what we write; since we put so much effort into something it is difficult to take any criticism. Stephen King once said that you should put anything your write away for a while, because it is your baby and you will not want to tear it apart if you edit it right away. Writing is a craft that takes lots of practice and failures, so I invite all of you to tear my paper into as many pieces as you want, as long as its in a constructive manner. I hope that everyone does this with each other, for it will only make us stronger individuals intellectually and better communicators. Chris