Through the precess of peer reviewing, I’ve learned several ways in which to better review my own writing, by holding myself to the same standards of those who I’ve passed my own judgement on. The opportunity to look over the best work of others also gave me a chance to learn from their writing styles and notice tools or abilities that I’d like to emulate in my own work.
With all that said, the process of pouring over somebody else’s work and looking for errors or missteps was strange, as I’m not one who usually critiques the works of others. Another issue with the process of peer reviewing is that it’s incredibly difficult to stay enthusiastic and engaged with someone else’s work on a topic you may not be familiar or interested with, all in an effort to examine the minutia of what they’re saying. This makes it necessary to take several breaks while reviewing in order to keep a fresh mind, but also results in a general dilution of early information as you progress with your review.
All in all, peer review seems like an important process which can be trying to the reviewer, but ultimately results in a generally higher caliber of work for everybody involved.
