How I handled a reference letter writer who wanted to see the whole petition first

One of my letter writers asked to review my full draft petition before writing their letter, which I hadn't anticipated and initially wasn't sure how to handle — wanting to be transparent while also being mindful that the letter should reflect their own independent assessment, not just echo my own framing back to me. What I ended up doing: shared a summary of the specific claims I was hoping they could speak to, based on their actual direct knowledge of my work, rather than the entire draft petition. This kept their eventual letter grounded in their own genuine, independent perspective on what they actually knew, rather than risking a letter that just restated my own petition's language back in their voice — which, per other posts here about testimonials versus real evidence, is exactly the kind of thing that can weaken a letter's credibility. If you run into a similar request: I think it's reasonable to share context about what you're hoping they can address, since that's genuinely helpful for them to write something useful — but I'd be cautious about handing over your full drafted narrative, since the value of an independent letter is partly that it's independently arrived at.