How to Create a Good Quiz!

Answer: False

Though it is very strongly encouraged that 'experts' create quizzes in their areas of specialty, anyone can create a quiz on virtually any topic. However, there is a catch. Regardless of who you are, if you want to create a quiz on any topic, you should do the ample amount of research necessary.

This means using multiple sources, checking your facts thoroughly and finding interesting additional facts to fill the 'interesting information' boxes. An art historian may be able to recite by rote every detail about the works of Leonardo da Vinci, but may create a horrible quiz because he or she doesn't deliver the questions in a palatable way. Meanwhile, a virtual layperson could create a masterpiece on the topic by simply understanding how to make a good quality quiz!

Answer: False

Medical research supports the idea that a person who tends to smile and/or laugh a lot during their lifetime lives longer. Therefore, tickling the funny bone of the average quiztaker is highly encouraged, and no editor will refuse a well-written quiz that contains humor. By all means, use your sense of humor in your quizwriting, especially in the additional info sections. Don't go overboard though...obvious joke questions are usually turned down (questions must lead to objective and unambiguous answers), and the editors will undoubtedly reject jokes about bodily functions, sexual situations and the like in your additional info and/or questions. Subtlety is the key to a good joke, so try a little stealth humor!

Answer: False

In fact, at any given time you will never see a top 30 list with primarily 'easy/simple' quizzes. Most of the quizzes at the top of each category are rated about 'average' in difficulty level. Though some people wish to get perfect scores on every quiz, most of us are content to score well, but are not obsessed enough to demand a 10/10 on every quiz. Rather, we wish to have a challenge, and scoring a six or seven out of ten is perfectly acceptable if the quiz is interesting and well-written. On the opposite end of the spectrum, it is true that very, very difficult (read: impossible) quizzes tend to be rated poorly.

However, the good news is that an impossible rating can be easily avoided by doing a few things, namely: avoiding too many fill-in-the-blank questions, writing in language that everyone can understand and relate to, avoiding too many questions with number answers, and avoiding excessive obscurity. I have quite a number of quizzes ranked 'impossible'...and they are all on the bottom of the ratings pile. I also have several quizzes ranked 'very easy' and 'simple', a few of which are ranked highly, but several of which aren't. By far the preponderance of highly ranked quizzes on my quiz list are rated as 'average'. Shoot for the average and you'll be fine!

Answer: A soft metallic chemical element with a silvery color, it employs the same letter used for a baseball strikeout. Name the letter!

I think the answer to this question should have been obvious to anyone who has ever submitted a question into the general or science categories! Long ago most of the simple versions of this question, namely the three wrong choices, were used in other quizzes.

They would no longer be accepted in quizzes submitted at Quizzyland. The problem with the simple and direct versions of this question goes beyond overuse though, the issue is originality, or lack thereof! If you want your quiz to be very well liked, one sure way to achieve this is to present your questions in such a way that they seem interesting and challenging to the quiztaker. By putting a 'twist' into the question, for example combining a chemical element question with a baseball question, you might attract fans of both disciplines. Use your imagination when presenting questions, if you are clever about it...you will be rewarded with more approbation (and possibly higher quiz ratings)!

Answer: True

What is the purpose of the 'interesting information' box? Essentially, it's to provide further information that will help illuminate your question. A few very relevant and interesting sentences are all that may be necessary to enlighten a quiztaker. I'm not suggesting by any means that you shouldn't endeavor to include all of the information that you would like in the additional info box. I am claiming, with ample evidence, that quiztakers will approve of a quiz which contains a reasonable amount of information about a topic just so long as it's presented in a clear, coherent manner and is relevant and cogent to the reader. You don't have to kill yourself to make a good quiz, but if you do...make sure it's for a good cause!

Answer: True

A look at the rankings for the top quizzes in the various categories will give you an indication of the variety of topics represented in the upper echelons of the quiz ranking system. Of course, you will find a greater volume of quizzes on movies, music and television near the top...no doubt about that.

But this makes sense when one considers that over half the quizzes at Quizzyland are on topics related to entertainment. Let's face it, the entertainment-related quizzes are a big draw here at Funtrivia, but this does not mean that the entertainment quizzes are more highly regarded than quizzes from categories such as science, humanities and history. You will find equal proportions of entertainment-related quizzes at the bottom of the ratings lists! People appreciate well-written quizzes regardless of the topics that are covered.

There is a catch, though...quizzes on relatively 'obscure' topics have to be somewhat accessible to the layperson...in other words, if you choose to write a quiz on Australian postage stamps (we do have one online here, and a very highly rated quiz it is, I must say) be sure that people somehow relate to your topic.

This doesn't mean insulting their intelligence, it just means connecting your quiz topic with people by convincing them of its importance to human society and culture. This is not always easy, but it can be done!

Answer: Choice 3

Though the rhyme scheme for the fourth choice is intriguing, it doesn't quite cut the mustard. Neither do choices one or two, for obvious reasons. They just don't have the proper flavor! You may not realize the importance of your introduction when you create your quiz, but consider... it is often the first thing a quiz taker notices when they enter a quiz! A good introduction might very well compel an otherwise uninterested quiz taker to give your quiz a try! 250 characters are provided for you in the introduction box for each quiz you create... take full advantage and use them all! Be creative, be exciting... titillate and tempt the potential quiz taker. Be pretentious, be verbose, let it all hang out... for goodness sake, don't be conservative! But don't forget...be sure it actually relates to your quiz topic... you don't want to confuse people by talking about Shirley Temple and/or ball-peen hammers in your introduction when you are presenting a quiz about scorpions.

The combination of common sense and creativity will help you through this crucial step in the quiz-making process. One more thing... try filling in the introduction only after you have completed the quiz. Once you have a feel for your quiz, you may better be able to present it in some clever way to the potential quiz takers out there.

Answer: The Importance of Being Oscar

The other three choices are perfectly acceptable, you could get them by even the stingiest of the editors here at Funtrivia, but they aren't exactly original. Much like the quiz introduction, the quiz title may have a lot to do with catching the interest of potential quiz takers. An imaginative and informed title like 'The Importance of Being Oscar', where Wilde's name is intermingled with one of his great works, will surely attract players who are 'in the know'. Further, a title like that sets itself apart from more traditional quiz titles that employ words such as 'trivia', 'quiz' and 'knowledge'. Again, there is nothing wrong with these terms, but they have been used before hundreds (if not thousands) of times in other quiz titles. Setting your quiz apart with a unique title will draw attention to your quiz... which is usually the goal here!

Answer: True

Sure, why not? If you discover that a quiz you have written is very popular with quiz takers and has achieved high ratings then you may have discovered something that resonates with your fellow Funtrivia dwellers. No doubt if they enjoyed your first quiz on 'Slugs of the Wild', the quiz 'Slugs II: Return of the Slime' will be more than welcome. I have found that follow-up quizzes on themed topics have worked well for me, and in fact oftentimes the sequels are more highly rated and more raved about than the originals!

Answer: Making a highly ranked quiz

Okay, this one might be a stinker to some of you, especially after my comments about creating a highly ranked quiz in the above questions...but it's true. If you are more concerned about creating quizzes that are highly ranked than you are about enjoying yourself and educating and entertaining others, perhaps this isn't the hobby for you. Of the four factors I listed, one is completely outside of your control... how your quizzes are ranked by others. You can certainly have fun writing quizzes if you have the right frame of mind, and it should be an enjoyable activity for you. Undoubtedly if you have done your research, helping to educate and enlighten others on a particular topic will occur. And if you create a high quality quiz, the entertainment part is a given! Occasionally you'll create a quiz that is entertaining and educational, and a lot of fun to make.

However, the following week when the quiz shows up in the rankings it falls somewhere between the height of Mt. Everest and the average cruising altitude of a jet airplane. Try not to be discouraged, maybe this was a strange twist of fate or maybe a few people had a rotten day and took it out on your quiz. You can't win them all! Over half of my quizzes are ranked in the bottom half of all Funtrivia quizzes, and some of my personal favorites are among them. Conversely, some of my most abhorrent work is inexplicably ranked in the top 20%! Either way, I will still keep trying... and so should you!