Peer feedback

Peer feedback is a matched read. Another writer whose skill focus fits your piece reads it and writes back. The pairing is deliberate, not a general critique queue.

Requesting a read

After submitting an exercise, or from your notebook, select Request a read. The system matches your piece with a writer based on the skill focus of your submission. You do not pick the reviewer. The match is automatic.

The reviewer has 24 hours to complete the feedback. If they do not, the request is reassigned automatically. You get a notification when feedback is ready.

Sending a read directly

If you want a specific person to read your piece, you can send the request straight to someone who follows you back. In the request, choose a mutual follower under Send directly. The request goes to them instead of the shared queue. They get an in-app notification and an email that makes clear it is a personal request from you.

If you would rather not receive direct requests yourself, open Preferences, go to Notifications, and turn off Allow direct feedback requests under in-site notifications. Your work can still be read through the shared queue.

Sensitivity reads

You can also ask for a sensitivity read. In the request, choose the Sensitivity read type and pick a lens, such as gender identity, race and ethnicity, or disability. The request is offered to writers who volunteered as sensitivity readers for that lens. If no one has signed up for it yet, the request waits until someone does. Requesting a sensitivity read is a paid Pro feature; volunteering to give them is free. You can sign up to give sensitivity feedback yourself in Preferences, under Content. See Sensitivity reads.

What the reviewer sees

The reviewer sees your piece and a set of guided questions tied to the skill focus of the submission. The questions are optional. They are prompts to point the reader's attention somewhere. The reviewer writes feedback in their own words.

The guided questions change with the skill focus. For dialogue, the reviewer is asked to consider whether the dialogue reveals character. For pacing, whether the scene moves at the right speed. And so on.

Rating feedback

After you receive feedback, you can rate it with two questions: was it specific, and did it help you see something. Ratings track reviewer quality over time. They are not shown publicly.

Giving feedback

The feedback queue works both ways. When you give feedback to another writer, you earn XP and move toward your feedback streak. Your feedback streak counts consecutive weeks where you completed at least one rated piece of feedback that was marked specific.

The Trusted Reader badge

Writers who have completed 10 or more feedback sessions with an average quality score of 0.8 or higher get the Trusted Reader badge. The badge is automatic, and it is removed automatically if the score drops below the threshold.