Readers are involved in a writer's creative process. Contributions to this process can provide writers with valuable technical support and artistic encouragement. Regardless of the genre, a reader will provide constructive criticism to the writer depending on what the writer needs feedback on. An experienced reader may function as an editor or as a mentor to a writer, working with the writer through extensive revisions. Readers who are not writers can often provide insightful feedback that explores how a piece of writing may be interpreted by the casual reading audience.
A writer may request a reader to look for certain issues in a piece. If a writer has not made specific requests of the reader, readers may want to start devising their own list of concerns during the first read-through. Readers can begin by analyzing high-order concerns such as organization, clarity of ideas, details and audience to quickly target areas that could be improved. Lower-order concerns such as punctuation or spelling can often be addressed last. When reading creative pieces, other aspects of writing such as plot, theme, tone, setting, character development, use of literary devices or figurative language should also be considered. Readers should read a piece through at least once before making any comments or suggestions.
Writers choose readers based on a belief that the person chosen should match the writer's own criteria for a reader. Colleagues, fellow writers and friends are usually the first candidates writers will approach to be readers. Some writers prefer to form writing groups that meet regularly to workshop each other's writing. Other writers may choose to use reading services, such as book doctors, who charge a fee. Reading services may also offer line editing services.
Many writers work to meet deadlines. Respecting a writer's request for information by a certain date will help him as he revises his piece. During revisions, writers do not always make changes that reflect all of the feedback received from a reader. This does not mean that the writer does not need the reader, only perhaps that she chose to keep certain aspects of the piece as written.
Writers usually thank their readers in the "Acknowledgments" section of their book.