Reviewing with River

 (This message was edited by riverbedwriter on 04-02-18 @ 8:30 am EDT)

I agree that by critiquing other's work, we learn to look at our own in a different way, but there is something else going on here too.

When someone reviews your piece, it is likely they'll pick up on something you didn't realise was a mistake. Hopefully you'll learn from that.

When you are critiquing someone else's work, you can do it 'cold' because you are completely removed from it. It's amazing how many mistakes I spot that I then realise I'm making myself. I didn't spot it in my own work because I am too close to it. This is probably one of the best ways to learn in fact.

There are also psychological reasons why reviewing your own work is hard. Understanding why it is harder to critique your own work makes it much easier to level the playing field. I wrote an article on this: "Why Self-reviewing is Hard"