Giving feedback as a writing tutor is a balance: you want to be honest, but also supportive. The goal isn’t to “fix” the writing for the student, but it is to help them build the skills and confidence to improve it themselves.
“Could you clarify what you meant here?”
“This sentence could be even stronger if…”
“I think this is an interesting idea. How could you expand on it?”
“What if we tried rewording this to make it clearer?”
“What do you want your reader to take away from this?”
“Let’s try putting your main point into one sentence together.”
“This feels like the heart of your argument, let’s build from there.”
“I’m having a little trouble following this part. Can you walk me through what you meant?”
“What are you trying to say here? Let’s work on making it clearer.”
Avoid sounding like a teacher grading the paper.
Don’t focus on what’s wrong, but focus on how to improve.
Don’t try to fix everything at once.
Don’t ignore what’s working. Always mention something positive!
“This is a great start!”
“You’re really close here.”
“I like how you ___.”
“Let’s build on this part, it has a lot of potential.”
“It’s totally normal to get stuck here. Let’s work through it together.”