You mean it’s OK? Creating an online environment for supportive creative writing peer review

Introduction: Managing feedback on drafts is a fundamental skill for creative writers and peer review can be one of the most helpful ways for students to improve their work. The discipline of giving helpful feedback to others enables more critical self-reading, and the trust that builds through a constructive feedback process can be good both for individual writers’ confidence and in building a
community of writers. This paper describes experience in encouraging peer feedback among students at the University of the Highlands and Islands, using video conferencing and a virtual learning environment discussion board. It explores the challenges of getting students over the hurdle of posting drafts online and identifying signals that the process is working, not least that delighted response to a first reading: “You mean it‘s OK?”