Reviews and red pens: an informal poll

[Faith Weber <weber -at- EASI -dot- ENET -dot- DEC -dot- COM>]

Re: Jane Torpie's comment about feeling demoralized by reviewers who
use red pen: I'm curious to know how many people are bothered by
this. I've heard the same comment from other people, and it's
surprised me because I personally like reviewers to comment in red,
blue, or anything else that stands out. I do get reviews marked up
with pencil or black pen, and those I'm not crazy about -- I have
to highlight the comments to make sure I don't miss any.

I know there are some reviewers out there, former English teachers
or not, who make their comments in a demoralizing tone. Does anyone
want to venture an estimate re: what percentage of people associate
that with markups in red pen? (Out of context it sounds silly, but
as I said, I've encountered this sentiment more than once.) How do
you folks feel about it?

I sometimes use red to point out changes, ask questions, etc. in
documents out for review, and I'm wondering if I should stop!
It's hard enough to avoid the "evil English teacher/editor/person
who corrects me" stereotype as it is.

Faith

P.S. The majority of my English/writing teachers made very helpful
comments that improved my writing; maybe that's why it doesn't bother
me. I hope this doesn't mean that a lot of English teachers behave
condescendingly towards their students. If so, it's no wonder so many
people seem to hate writing!