METM25 presentation

How to give constructive feedback to writers (or anyone)

Susan Frekko, Barcelona, Spain

In this interactive session, I will use a slide presentation and group activities to offer a model for providing constructive feedback to writers. This approach draws on horizontality (equality in interactions), social interest (contribution to others), and encouragement – key principles from the psychological school of Alfred Adler (a co-founder of depth psychology, along with Freud and Jung).

As authors’ editors and translators, we provide feedback to writers about how to improve their texts. This feedback is sometimes unwelcome because, for example, writers may be attached to what they have written, may be on a tight deadline, or may question our expertise. Yet, if we don’t manage to convince the client to make needed changes, the final product – and even chances of publication – may be worse.

During the session, we will break into pairs to roleplay different ways to give and receive feedback, with short dialogues that I will provide. We will first try interactions based on the hierarchical model many of us learned in school, in which language professionals “correct” their clients’ writing (a form of verticality that is itself complicated by the fact that clients are often in socially superior positions to their editors and translators). Then we will practice interactions based on an Adlerian-inspired model. Afterwards, we will reflect on how we felt in both language professional and client roles, how effective the interaction seemed to us, and how we might apply what we learned in the roleplay to real professional settings.

While the session will be geared toward professionals who work directly with writers, the approach can be helpful in any interaction in which we give feedback to others, including our colleagues, kids, and romantic partners. Attendees should bring a pen.
[Read a member’s review of the presentation.]

About the presenter

Susan Frekko is an Adlerian counselor based in Barcelona. She provides individual counseling to teens and adults, as well as parent education. Also trained as an anthropologist and researcher, Susan additionally works as an independent writing coach, translator, and editor specializing in humanities, social sciences, and health sciences.