where do you get writing feedback?

From high school to graduate school papers are a fact of life. There’s no getting away from them. Every paper has to be your own work – no plagiarism allowed! – but you can get a little help with editing your writing. Online paper editors are becoming more and more common. Upload your work, pay the fee and an online editor will read and edit it to make your paper better. It sounds great but are online paper editors a good idea? A great online editor who understands what you want can really help you improve the quality of your writing. Having an editor can also lessen worry in the writing process and help you get words on paper because you know you have someone to help you. However the quality of online editing varies massively and, depending on your circumstances, might not be worth the money. Do your research before you commit and don’t neglect to explore free options to get your work edited and improve your writing. Pro: Help with your writing Having someone else read over your work and suggest improvements is a great thing. When you read your own work you will quite often miss small mistakes, reading what you think it should say rather than what is actually on the page. You are also often too involved in the details of the paper to see where big improvements could be made. An editor can bring a fresh perspective to your work, correct spelling and grammar mistakes and make suggestions on how to improve the quality of your writing. After great editing your paper will be easier to read and might even get a better grade. It is why professional writers have teams of editors and why the online paper editing market is growing so fast. A good editor is always a good idea for your writing. Con: You don’t know your editor A good editor is always a good idea for your writing but not all editors are good. When you deal with an online editing service you often know little or nothing about the person who is editing your work. They could be a conscientious and well-educated individual with an eagle eye for grammatical errors who will do a superb job editing your work. Or they might be the complete opposite. Some editors might make very minimal edits and give you little or no feedback on your paper. Others might be given your degree-level paper to edit when they only have experience editing high school papers. In some extreme, and thankfully rare, cases editors can break confidentiality, steal ideas or be involved in plagiarism. Pro: You can do it from your bedroom Online editing is, by definition, online. You don’t have to change out of your comfy clothes or go out into the cold, wet world. Everything, including the research about which editor to use, can be done from the comfort of your own home. Many services also go one step beyond with a slick, hassle-free website and a promise to get your paper edited and back to you in a matter of days, or even hours. The initial process of finding an online editor that you like might have some bumps in the road. But once you’ve found them getting your paper edited can be as easy as buying stuff you don’t need on Amazon. Con: You might get a better deal in real life If you want help with your writing online editing is easy and convenient. But it might not be the best option to help you with your writing. If you are attending a school, college or university it is likely that you will have access to a whole world of writing support. Study skills, writing workshops, professor office hours and study groups are there for your benefit. It might be embarrassing for you to show up and ask for help with your writing. Hearing your professor or teacher talk about why you didn’t get a higher grade on your last paper might be hard to hear. But it is likely the feedback will be much more useful to you than anything you will get from an online editor. Even editors can be better in real life. You could ask someone in your life who is good with words to read your paper and suggest changes. You could swap papers with a friend in your class and edit each other’s work before the deadline. You could also research editors in your local area. Often these options can provide high quality and personalized writing support and editing, all for a fraction of the cost of online editing (often free). Pro: Editing that is worth the money Is online editing worth the money? That depends. Sometimes online editing is worth every single penny. It can be a support to individuals who are not natural writers. It can be a helping hand to students who find every paper a struggle and don’t know how to improve their writing. It can also be the difference between feeling defeated about a paper or optimistic, knowing that you can send it to be edited before you hand it in. The burdens of worry and perfectionism are major issues for many students. Using an online editing service can help you stop procrastinating and get words on paper. This is simply because you know you need the paper finished in time to be edited before the deadline. In these ways the positive impact of an online paper editor can be priceless. Con: Editing that is not worth the money Sometimes online editing is certainly not worth the money. It is not worth the money if you pay up front for a service that fails to deliver the editing you want. It is not worth the money if you are struggling financially. No matter how useful and helpful online editing can be, it is a luxury that you do not need. If every dollar matters in your budget and you worry about making rent then online editing is not for you. Online editing is also not worth the money if you can get high quality editing and help with your writing for free. Think through your friends, family members, friends of friends, acquaintances and colleagues. Who do you know that is a great writer? Who do you know that always got top grades on their papers and might be willing to help you with yours? Consider bribing them with tasty food or offering to clean their kitchen in exchange for some high quality editing. Online Editing Top Tip: Do your research Before handing over your paper and your money to an online editor or editing service take the time to do your research. Compare your different options. Read the terms and conditions (even though they are boring). Read reviews written by people who have used the editor before. Read through any and all information on the site. Ask questions (via email or website queries). The point of all this is to fully understand how the process works and exactly what you will be getting from your editor. If you want anything specific then make sure this is part of the service they offer. This will save you from the disappointment or expecting something from your editor that they do not provide. Online Editing Top Tip: Try R3ciprocity.com When it comes to online editing the r3ciprocity.com is utterly unique. It is an online platform that enables you to upload your work and get quality editing by real people AND support others by editing and proofreading their work. The credit system allows you to use the platform for free. Editing others’ work earns you credits that you can spend to get feedback on your own work. Credits can also be affordably purchased through the platform if you want feedback on your writing without spending time editing for others. The systems in place on the platform help ensure that the editing provided through r3ciprocity.com is always of the highest quality. People wanting to become editors need to go through the test review process - editing two test documents that are verified by r3ciprocity admin - before they are given the work of others to edit. Everyone who has their work edited through r3ciprocity.com gives their editor a star rating out of five and has the opportunity to give them feedback on their editing. Editors need to maintain a high star rating to transfer their credits on the platform to real money (so they are always motivated to provide the best quality editing). If you decide that online paper editing is for you (or you want to start helping others by editing their work) r3ciprocity.com is a great option. Go to r3ciprocity.com to get started today. For more information on the r3ciprocity project check out some other posts on this site: How Is Quality Ensured On R3ciprocity.com?How To Get Feedback On Your Writing On R3ciprocity.comHow Do You Perform A Test Review On R3ciprocity.com? (2019)How To Get Started As a Proofreader (And Earn Some Money Doing It)