Electronic tutoring can be valuable for writers and should be offered in more university settings, not just in computer labs. Among its advantages is the speed with which commentary can be returned by e-mail. Other advantages were evident in a reciprocal tutoring relationship carried on by two academics in different states. They chose not to edit or evaluate each other's papers but to comment on them in a descriptive manner, an approach that does much to lessen the pain on the part of the writer whose paper is being critiqued. Some advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of electronic commentary are as follows: (1) annotation balloons, which do not disturb the text but are supported by only certain kinds of software and cannot be sent over internet; (2) voice annotations, which preserve the power and subtlety of the human voice but again are supported by only certain kinds of software and cannot be sent over internet; and (3) notes in a different color, which are highly visible but cannot be printed as separate text or intrude into the original text. The chief benefit of a long-term tutoring relationship carried on over the computer is that it creates a degree of support typically unknown in tutoring labs or classrooms. The writer's knowing that he or she has the support of the reader, knowing that he or she is not there to criticize, enables him or her to get past merely reading responses as "do you like me" clues. (TB)