"What do you like best  about it?"

That question is one of the most powerful tools a writer can use.  I wish I'd thought it up myself, but it's the discovery of Cleo Martin, a friend who used to teach writing at the University of Iowa.  She said that she'd been asking it of her students for several months before realizing just how powerful it is.  Then she began insisting that they ask the question about their own writings.

What's so special about this question?  It asks, Given this piece of writing apart from all other pieces of writing ever written, what in it or about it moves you the most?  Or what disturbs you the most and you appreciate that?  Or what's the niftiest wording in it?  Or what --something?

The question "What do you like best about it?" asks for an analysis of this piece of writing, within itself.  It does not ask for comparisons with other pieces of writing.

It does not ask, "What do you like about it?"  If we ask that question, we all may be disappointed by the answer.

It does not ask, "Is it any good?" or "Do you like it?"  Those questions ask for value judgments and comparisons. Not many of us write as well as the best writers in the world, so it's not very useful to ask those questions

Instead, the question asks about the best of it, on the audience's own terms--what do they like best in it or about it.  That's very important because it should always get you an honest answer.  After all, there's no need to consider the writer's feelings in answering that question.

The question "What do you like best about it?" also requests an affirmative reply, and affirmation is almost always more productive than negation.  After all, who really wants to ask for pain?

Answering the question thoughtfully may be hard.  It may take you some time, especially if the writing is even throughout the piece.  (Notice that I didn't say that the writing is all very good or all very bad.  Good and bad are value judgments so they don't apply here.)

The question asks for analysis, and thinking analytically is usually a lot harder to do than making a quick emotional response.  So, in other words, it's probably easy to say, "Oh, I like it a lot" or "Oh, it's really exciting."  Those answers are affirmative and supportive, yes.  But it would be much more useful to say, "Oh, I like the way everything in the beginning and the middle leads up to the shock at the end."  Or, "This particular word seems to express everything else in the whole essay--seems to capture the feeling and the idea of it all, so it's very effective."

Another friend of mine, a professor of engineering, is very upset by this question.  He says it's dangerous because it asks for positive feedback.  Engineers generally prefer to use negative feedback because it limits and controls the system.  They hate and fear positive feedback because, as my friend says, "the system can go wild and just do whatever it wants to."

Well, negative feedback may be important in regulating systems and machines.  But what happens when it's applied to students?  (That's a rhetorical question, by the way.  But I hope you'll come up with your own answer to it.)

And that's why I think positive feedback is generally best in schools.  And it's why I think Cleo Martin's question, "What do you like best about it?" is simply terrific.

My engineer friend understands "terrific" in the older way, as terrifying.  To me, however, negation is what causes terror.  In trying to make up your own mind about this issue, you might consider your previous educational experience.  How much of it has brought you negative feedback?  How much has brought positive feedback?  And which has been best for you?

So:  when you're trying out a piece of writing, please ask your audience, "What do you like best about it?"  I'm sure you'll be pleased with their answers and will find them useful in your future writings.

--Don Maxwell
 

P.S.  By the way, positive feedback, when it's honest, is not merely complimentary.  That would be empty feedback.