I totally agree with all of these points. The writing group I was a part of some time ago, when I’d submit pieces, all I’d get was “i really liked that”, or “I thought it was well written”, which of course tells you nothing.

I can sometimes get really defensive about my writing, and some comments I find myself actively arguing against. But this is just in the short term. A lot of the time I will know that a lot of comments are right, or on a deeply subconscious level, I had issues with a certain aspect of my writing and wanted confirmation from a different set of eyes.

When giving feedback, sometimes, because of the way my mind works, I can get hung up on the minutae of a text. Not so much the correcting of particular words, or terminology, because as you say, that is intruding upon the writers voice, but if I find something to be particularly jarring, I will often make suggestions, pointing towards new paths that the writer can take.

I guess it can be incredibly arrogant of me, but arent all writers deep down raving egomaniacs? I remember back in uni when we had to workshop stuff, and you could tell which were the pieces people worked on, and which were the ones they did just to fulfil an assignment. As much as I loathed sacrificing so much time reading and feeding back on work that I knew people didnt really care about, i found it ultimately useful, because feeding back helps develop your writing skill, doesnt it? When you can give good feedback to other writers, it helps you to develop a more analytical eye over your own work. Which makes you a better writer, no?