Writing Closing Comments: Tips and Examples
As you know, we love feedback here at Kibin, and our users love it, too! The regulars look forward to your answers to the two closing comment questions: 1. What did the author do well? 2. What could the author improve on?
Criticism can be hard for a writer to take, so presenting the feedback in this way ensures that they get something to feel good about -- even if you have to dig deep to find it on an especially tough edit -- in addition to feedback on what they can improve.
The author receives an email that includes your closing comments once the document is available for download on their dashboard:
Note that you are writing directly to the author when writing your closing comments. Avoid starting with "The author did a good job..." Instead, use "you" and make your comments personal for the reader.
Pro tip: Tailor your feedback to use the author’s own words/expectations. For example, a user's note says, "Hi Editor, I'm unsure if my paragraphs make sense and if there is a more logical order." Your closing feedback could include something like this:
“I thought that all of your paragraphs made sense, except for paragraph 4 where you start to drift off topic. I moved your second to last paragraph earlier in the document because it was mostly expository information.”
Addressing their concerns directly makes the author feel heard and helps them better understand how your feedback and edits helped them overall.
Still struggling? Here are some examples of helpful and not-so-helpful closing comments:
Helpful Closing Comments
What did the author do well?
I think the strongest part of your paper was the section where you compared Saudi Arabian education and New Zealand education -- you had some really interesting insights there! I can tell that you attempted to organize your paper and create a thesis statement that summed up what you were going to say, too. And you handled your references really well!
What could the author improve on?
Right now, your paper is a bit disorganized, and it was sometimes difficult for me to understand the points that you wanted to make in your writing. That said, I corrected the grammar to the best of my ability and asked questions when I was unable to discern what you wanted to say, which should help guide you as you clarify those points. I would also strongly recommend that you consider creating a reverse outline of your paper so that you can see how it is organized now and then make adjustments to it based on how you would *like* it to be organized. You can see how to make a reverse outline here: https://twp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/reverse_outline.pdf
Something else I noticed as I edited was that you tended to make a lot of changes to quotations. It's awesome that you know how to do this and that you put those changes in brackets, as you should, but you want to be careful when doing so that you don't actually change the meaning of the quote. You should really only use that option when you need to tweak the grammar of a quotation, for instance, to help it fit what you're trying to say in your sentence or to clarify something that lacks context. Here's a great overview of when and how to use brackets: http://www.thepunctuationguide.com/brackets.html Lastly, you asked that I add words to your paper -- creating content isn't really what we do at Kibin, so I'm unable to lengthen your paper. However, I did make some suggestions regarding places where you could elaborate on your ideas, which will add to your word count :) Best of luck with your revisions!
(See how the closing comments above are specific to the document, detailed, and encouraging? The editor even took the time to provide links to relevant resources. These are perfect!)
What did the author do well?
You provided some very impressive, interesting, and relevant examples of your values, skills, and experience, such as your executive officer position. Best of luck with your application!
What could the author improve on?
The primary concerns were word choice and sentence structure. Keep the writing academic rather than informal (word choice in certain sections), clear, and concise. See the document for additional comments.
(See how the closing comments above are positive and encouraging? These are perfect examples of concise yet helpful comments.)
Not-So-Helpful Closing Comments
What did the author do well?
The author did a good job with writing in an interesting way.
What could the author improve on?
The author needs to watch out for grammar issues.
(See how the closing comments above address "the author" and don't provide much information on the author’s strengths and weaknesses? They should directly address the author in addition to being more substantial and specific.)
What did the author do well?
You really should try to sound more professional when you write because this sounds like it was written by an elementary school student. Your paper was very boring and needs to be rewritten.
What could the author improve on?
Where do I start? Your paper was boring and poorly written. There were so many mistakes that I could hardly make sense of it. Good luck with the rewrite, and don't quit your day job.
(See how the closing comments above are just plain mean? If you think your feedback might make the user feel bad, it's best to revise.)
Once you get into the habit, it won't take long for you to leave specific, helpful closing comments for each document. We consider this a very important step in making sure our users have a fabulous Kibin experience, so please give the closing comments your full attention.