8 Things I Learned from 52 Weeks of Feedback

Just over a decade ago, I set off on a project to give feedback to other writers for 52 weeks straight.

I recently stumbled across the blog content I wrote about that experience and decided to pull it from the archives for you. As outdated as some of it is (my personal career has come a long way in those ten years), it was a cool project and one I think we can all learn from!

This piece tended to focus on blogging, which I was doing a lot of at the time. But for me it extends to all kinds of content we produce, whether it’s a social media post, magazine articles, or books.

Here’s to a world of high-quality feedback!

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December 2, 2013

On April 15, 2012, I set out on a mission. I was feeling discouraged by the lack of feedback in the world of writing. We live in a fast-paced culture where editors are often too busy to include us in their editing process, and in which readers often consume without providing any response, whether they are tight on time or just don't think of it. The Internet seems to have raised a new generation of "scanners" — readers who quickly gloss over a piece, check the length and read the headers and subheaders before deciding if they are even going to continue reading at all. Bloggers are actually encouraged to cater to this type of reader by compartmentalizing longer pieces into smaller chunks with catchy subheadings (I'm doing that in this very article). Throw in a few photos to make things interesting because, my goodness, a page full of text? We're lucky if readers get to the bottom of our articles, of pieces we work so hard to produce.

I know this because, at times, I am that reader. So, how can I expect to hear from my readers if I don't provide feedback to others?

Why do I care so much about feedback?

I realize that not every writer cares about receiving feedback. Some are content to throw ideas out to the universe without any sense of where they end up. But that's not my approach. My eagerness for feedback isn't some superficial need for attention. It's a genuine desire for information that will help me sharpen my sword and produce better stories. It's a longing for discussion around the ideas I'm presenting. Like many writers, it's the need to know that someone finds my words helpful, insightful or inspiring — that there is a purpose to what I'm doing. Call it affirmation, but I'm not talking about a pat on the back or a gold star. For me, it's the force behind what I do, the reason I see the world in words, the result of a lot of hard thinking and hard work.

Feature photo by Ann H.

The Challenge

So, on April 15 of last year, I set out on a mission to choose an article (mostly online) each week and provide feedback to the author. This could be a comment about the actual writing or the ideas presented. I kept my comments positive and shied away from offering constructive criticism since this was all occurring on a public forum. Some writers asked me to choose their pieces to provide feedback on, and so I provided more constructive criticism privately. If I couldn't provide genuine feedback, I didn't provide any at all. As tempting as it was sometimes, I never wanted to comment simply for the sake of commenting. I only gave my feedback when I had time to think it through and provide an authentic, thoughtful response.

You might be wondering, if it was 52 Weeks of Feedback, why did it take me 80? The most basic answer: I had a baby. Things got busy and I missed a week here and there. But I stuck to it and still provided feedback for 52 weeks. You can check out my reading list at the bottom of this post.

So, let's get down to it. What did I learn after my 52 weeks of reading and commenting?

What I Learned From 52 Weeks of Feedback

1. Providing comments on a regular basis paved the way for new relationships with other writers and bloggers. The majority of authors who received my feedback were thankful that I took the time to comment, and this sparked the beginning of a meaningful exchange. Sometimes it didn't go beyond that first exchange; in other cases, I am still in regular contact with some of these writers.

2. The weekly challenge encouraged me to keep reading. I have heard many times that the best thing a writer can do to improve his or her craft is to read. As much as the project was about providing feedback, an unintended benefit was that I read more than I would have otherwise.

3. Keeping track of the articles I was reading helped me clarify which topics I am most passionate about. Looking back on the list, here are the dominant themes: parenting and the outdoors, motherhood, adventure, goal setting, thoughts on the writing process, creativity, and women in sports.

4. Knowing I had to provide feedback forced me to read more attentively. I fought the temptation to skim or skip ahead so that I could provide an informed response. As a result, I also took more away from the article and invested myself more in the ideas that were presented. I allowed myself the time to think, even if it was on a topic I wasn't particularly interested in.

5. Often my first comment was the beginning of a meaningful discussion, not just with the author but with other commenters.

6. This wasn't a reason for my feedback, but looking at my web traffic, referring links increasingly came from articles I commented on. This proves to me that meaningful feedback will eventually loop back to its source.

7. I learned a heck of a lot about writing — from techniques that make for effective storytelling to the power of anecdotes as a way of making ideas stick. And after 52 Weeks of Feedback, here is the one piece of criticism I came up with the most (something I am also working on): cut the fluff. Be rigorous with your choice of words. While I'm a strong believer that long-form pieces belong on the web, longer is not necessarily better. One editor put it this way: learn to distinguish the pepper (relevant details) from the fly shit (details that don't ultimately serve the piece). Help your reader get to the end of your articles.

8. Committing to a challenge helped me to create a new habit. I can't promise I'll continue the process weekly, but I will take the time more often to provide feedback to other writers.

There you have it! I encourage you to take on your own feedback challenge, whether it's weekly, monthly or whenever you feel like it. As I have written above, I learned a lot from the process, and the practice has resulted in some long-term benefits: relationships with other writers, meaningful discussion and helpful tips that will improve my writing.

Is feedback important to you? Why or why not?

What I Read in my 52 Weeks of Feedback

I have not linked as it was a decade ago and a lot of the links no longer work.

Week 1

Managing Distraction: How and Why to Ignore Your Inbox, by Katherine Ellison

Are Writers Just Content Providers?, by Christine Peets

Week 2

Back to My Roots and On to United States Masters Swimming Short Course Spring Nationals, by Katie Levy of Adventure-Inspired

Week 3

A Weekend of Projects - Part 2 (Pilot Mountain), by Erica Lineberry of CragMama

Writers: How to Keep it Fresh and Avoid Crunch, by Angela West

Week 4

Getting Outside During a Hard Pregnancy, Lindsey Wilson of OutsideMom.com

Week 5

Imagine: How Creativity Works, a book by Jonah Lehrer

Week 6

Learning to share in the backcountry, Tanya Koob at Family Adventures in The Canadian Rockies

Week 7

Running the Juan De Fuca Trail, Ross Collicut on PureOutside

Week 8

yoga june, Sam Peris on nu roots nutrition

Week 9

Thoughts on Adventure and Fatherhood, by Mark Stephens of AdventureParents.com

Week 10

The Most Depressing Thing Happening in Digital Right Now, by Mitch Joel

Week 11

Before They're Gone: A Family’s Year-Long Quest to Explore America’s Most Endangered National Parks, by Michael Lanza

Week 12

Gym Class Heroes, Canadian Living (June 2012), by Jennifer Power Scott

Week 13

Alaska destiny discovered, by James Edward Mills on The Joy Trip Project

Week 14

Rainy Days Mean Fatter Journals, by the Writer's Midwife

Week 15

Getting Out Alive, by Kim Kircher

Week 16

get over it! cycling to work begins again, by Kat Feeney of Kale Spa

Week 17

Finding Comfort in Unexpected (or Expected?) Places: the Value of Going Back to Our Roots, by Katie Levy of Adventure-Inspired

Week 18

Small Steps: The Delights & Difficulties of Hiking with Children and Making it Fun, by Brooke Stephens of AdventureParents.com

Week 19

Entering the Ironman Fold, by Jennifer Ward Barber

Week 20

Forever and a Day, by Kentucky Mountain Girl's Blog

Week 21

A Look Back: Alone with My Thoughts in Denali, Katie Levy of Adventure-Inspired

Week 22

Are You Wasting Your time Guest Blogging?, by Dan Norris of Web Control Room on Problogger

Week 23

Finding Humility the Hard Way, by Jill Wheeler on Women's Adventure Magazine

Week 24

Ill-Prepared Glacier Park Hikers owe their lives to rescue workers... , Tony Bynum

Week 25

Backpacking with a Baby, by Charlotte Watson on Birth Takes a Village

Week 26

It's Time To Kill Multi-Tasking, by Jocelyn K. Glei on 99U

Week 27

Things I've Learned from Self-Employment - Part III, Marissa Krupa on The SpokenCoast Project

Week 28

The 6 Unique Traits of All Remarkable Writers, Demian Farnworth on Copyblogger

Week 29

My Love/Hate Relationship with Ice Climbing, Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Week 30

On Writing Reverse Bucket Lists and Remembering How Amazing You Are, Adventure-Inspired

Week 31

How a Ski Accident Changed Our Lives, The Brave Ski Mom

Week 32

When What We Do Doesn't Matter, The Bionic Chronicles

Week 33

Weekends Are For Amateurs, Will Gadd

Week 34

Emotional health and the outdoors, Robin Enright

Week 35

Freelancing for Free, Ann Friedman on Columbia Journalism Review

Week 36

Ian Brown: Why we are so drawn to the magnitude and beauty of mountains, Ian Brown in the Globe and Mail

Week 37

Metamorphosis (Or: Apparently My Body is Missing?!), on Mama Unabridged

Week 38

How Putting Performance First is Saving My Body Image, by Jennifer Ward Barber on Greatist

Week 39

No Girls Allowed: The #1 Reason You Weren't Invited, by Gina Begin on Sierra Social Hub

Week 40

Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods, a book by Christine Byl

Week 41

Don't Feel Guilty for Finding Meaning in Your Life, by Kim Kircher

Week 42

Are the Childless Necessarily Selfish?, Everywhere Once

Week 43

Adventure Is Not Just For Sexy People, Jennifer Davis-Flynne on Women's Adventure Magazine

Week 44

Camping Courtesy: Nine Behaviours to Avoid in Public Campgrounds, Katie Levy on Adventure Inspired

Week 45

I became a mother, and died to live, Renegade Mama

Weel 46

No Regret Parenting, Brave Ski Mom

Week 47

The curse of Eve, Fresh Tracks

Week 48

You're a stay at home mom? What do you DO all day?, Matt Walsh

Week 49

When We Were the Sea, by Niki Wilson on The Good from the Woods

Week 50

 A Poet in The Great Bear Rainforest, Lorna Crozier on Toque & Canoe

Week 51

The unexpected joys and wonders of travelling with kids, Bruce Kirkby for The Globe and Mail

Week 52

Is there a Cure for Re-entry Syndrome?, by Kim Kircher