The Magic of Echoes
The Nourishment of A simple Low Risk Feedback Session
Happy beginning of Imbolc season! We are now halfway between winter and spring. If you want to read more I suggest the Simple Witchery substack.
Yesterday I hosted a ReadBack Feedback session with a group of writers in the private community where I am a member and the coordinator. It was the first time we formally gathered to use this type of low-risk feedback. I learned it from Jane Brunette while participating in her writing circles.
The process is simple. The writer reads their piece and invites one of the people to listen for them. Then as the writer reads the other person writes down what strikes them. It may be a list of words, or phrases and occasionally a sentence. When the reader completes the reading then the listener reads their list for the group. We continue this process until everyone has read and listened for someone else.
There is power in hearing your words echoed back. I will mark the phrases that are said out loud in the piece in my notebook. You can use the phrases to start another piece of writing or write into the content of that piece again. Often Jane would repeat back several phrases from each person and then we would choose the one that spoke to us in that moment and write into it.
Other writers are welcome to write a list for everyone who reads. This is my practice but the careful active listening to one writer who has requested it has its own magic.
It was a nourishing space to share words and I am glad I hosted it. We plan to meet again this month.
Have you ever tried this type of process with sharing your words? I would love to hear about it!
For many years I participated in a (irl) writers' group that truly helped me improve my narrative story telling. We didn't have one on one reader/listener, but something similar. Those who wished to respond to what was read framed their comments around three criteria - what stood out, what I didn't understand (I need more information) and don't change this in the edits (a really good phrase or section that needs no polishing). The writer did not respons to these comments in the session, but might later share how it helped them—or why they disregarded the suggestion. This was a very effective way to critique—I recall one incident where I was deeply irritated by a comment, but as I thought about it over the days I could see the validity, and the challenge to improve my writing. I wouldn't mind participating in a group of this caliber again.
P.S. Thanks for the shout out!
Sounds intriguing! I'm in an in person writing group where we share what we've written and there's free feedback - sometimes they pick up on key phrases. I can totally see the value of it.