Writing Quiz Questions That Don't Suck #1

Answer: All of these

Numerical questions are almost always a sign of a really boring quiz, and really boring quizzes aren't much fun. Numerical questions are poor quizwriting form for several reasons:
- The answers are often disputable, or can change with time
- Even experts in a field prefer interesting facts about their pet subjects, rather than dull numbers
- In the limited space that you have available in your quiz, you should endeavor to make it as interesting and lively as possible. Numerical questions are neither.

Answer: What Chinese critter is the only member of the order Carnivora that is primarily vegetarian?

That question probably caught your interest- unlike the others!
The TV show question is a poor one, because it falls into the deadly realm of "Who cares?" questions! Someone would have to be sitting plastered to the TV in order to notice such a minute detail; no one will remember it or care about it 5 minutes later.
"How many spots does the average jaguar have?" is a poor question because it is apt to be quite disputable- I am sure you can find about as many different answers as there are spots on a jaguar!
"Are some apples red?" is far too simple. Presume that your quiztakers are adults and appreciate at least a bit of a challenge- this question would be too easy even for the For Children category!
By the way, the answer to the good question is "the giant panda."

Answer: Trick questions

Trick questions are not enjoyable for the quiztaker. Even the Brain Teasers category doesn't allow them.

Answer: They are rated "Average" to "Tough" in difficulty

This shows the importance of writing good questions! Quizzes that are overly simple or impossible won't receive high ratings. Quizzes that present a decent challenge without being impossible are best.

Quizzes about things that "everyone knows" are also not high in the ratings. This is at least in part because quizzes on popular subjects are often written quickly, with little attention paid to crafting a quality quiz. On the other hand, someone writing about a subject that he or she knows and loves is much more apt to write a good quiz.

While the vast bulk of quizzes submitted to FunTrivia are on entertainment-related topics, few of them are highly-rated. Many quizwriters fall into the trap of writing overly obscure questions on minute details, which the average quiztaker simply doesn't care about.

What are some of the topics of the most-highly-rated quizzes? Here is a sampling from May, 2005:
- The goddess Athena
- Charles Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers"
- Touring Amsterdam
- The history of Brisbane, Australia
- Early German literature

Answer: False

Not if you want anyone to actually play your quiz and learn from it!

Let's say that I reject a quiz that has the question, "In what chapter of "Proofs for Stuff" do we find the proof that Baclavian lines never intersect, except on Sundays?" The quiz author will often send a note back with something like, "But any real student of Lower Baclavian Arithmetic knows that the proof for this theorem is found in Chapter 1532!"

The problem here is that almost everyone who plays the quiz will *not* be a student of Lower Baclavian Arithmetic. In addition, even scholars of Lower Baclavian Arithmetic will exclaim, "Who really cares what chapter the proof is in? Let's write a more interesting question about why the lines can intersect on Sundays!"

And no, there is no such thing as Lower Baclavian Arithmetic.

Answer: What is unusual about the mating call of the East Sparvenian dodo?

The better question doesn't require you to know any arcane numerals for its answer.

Answer: It uses unfamiliar vocabulary but doesn't explain it

Almost anyone playing this quiz would be muttering, "What the heck is an anserine?"

When writing any quiz on a non-entertainment topic, always assume that the player of your quiz knows little to nothing about the topic, but wants to learn more. Using lots of unfamiliar, unexplained vocabulary will turn people off. Always explain new vocabulary in the question.

Oh- and anserines are ducks and geese.

Answer: What is a defining feature of the anserines (geese and their relatives)?

The correct answer is the only one that explains the unfamiliar vocabulary word.

Answer: Any of these

All of these are good ways to ensure that you submit a quiz that people will actually play!

Answer: Because you know a lot about a certain topic and want to introduce people to that topic

If you obsess on obscure details, you'll write an obscure and boring quiz.
Some of the most boring quizzes I've ever seen have been from people who write in their intros, "I am making this quiz because I have a test on Subject X tomorrow and I need to study for it." These quizzes usually read as if they were taken directly from a test paper. Bo-ring.
"Because you don't really know anything about the topic but are interested in it and trying to learn something" is a bit trickier. The problem with this situation is that, without some real knowledge of the topic, you aren't likely to know what facts are most important to know, or are most interesting, nor are you going to be able to fact-check your quiz very well.