These past several months, our content team has written
over 20,000 trivia questions on 100s of movies, TV shows,
video games and celebrities. We thought you might like a
few pointers.
10. You cannot please everyone
It's hard to balance questions between easy (for the casual
fan) and difficult (for the die-hards). The casual fan
wants to stay with what's in the movie, and on the DVD
case. The die-hard wants to be asked about the history of
the film and its production, and probably has all the
dialogs memorized. Be clear which type of fan you want
answering a specific question correctly and get it out
there. The fact that some people find the questions too
easy does not mean others do not enjoy them.
9. Make each question stand on its own
Make it easy for someone to read your question and get
everything they need to answer the question. It's
frustrating to have to browse up, down and around to get
the context of an incomplete question. Don't just ask the
question: "Who punches first, the chicken or Peter?".
Someone playing will go, "Who's punching chickens? What
movie was THIS in?" You'll probably get better reception if
you ask: "On Family Guy, who punches first, the chicken or
Peter?".
8. Make every word count
How long do you scan the subject line of an email in your
inbox before you decide to open it or trash it? 5 seconds
tops? Same goes for a trivia question. Ask yourself if a
user can scan your question in 5 seconds and get what it's
about. Make the question crisp, to the point. Pick a
writing style. Be consistent with your choice of words so
the user knows what you're getting at easily.
7. Double-check your facts
Your mind can play tricks on you. You might remember
something that didn't actually happen. Try internet
resources like Wikipedia and IMDB where you can read what
others have said about a movie. Have you assumed something
that isn't there (or confused one character with another)?
Checking facts is harder for newer movies, but definitely
worth the effort. Remember, people really want that perfect
score, and you don't want a true trivia buff get upset at
you for saying their correct answer was wrong.
6. Know your audience
Who is your question directed to? The horror movie buff? Or
the Frat Pack fan? A 15 year old casual film goer? Or a 35
year old die-hard movie buff who's watched every movie by a
cult director in the theaters or on DVD the moment it comes
out? As you think of your trivia questions, be clear on who
you want answering your question correctly. That way, you
can be sure that it challenges some who play, and educates
others as well. It helps if you throw in a fun factoid
about your correct answer, that pops up after someone has
answered your question.
5. Mix it up so it never gets predictable
Here we are talking of the structure and grammar of your
question. Let's say you love the video game "Gears of War".
What if a string of 20 questions came at you, and every one
of them started with: "In Gears of War, what...". Wouldn't
that get boring? On the other hand, you will probably enjoy
answering the same 20 questions, if each one was phrased a
bit differently. Move the game title around in the
questions to different spots. You will have more fun
reading and playing, right?
4. Stay away from obscure numbers and fringe facts
People play trivia for fun, not to be quizzed on what they
barely saw in a movie or game. So no trivia on that phone
number that flashed in the middle of a thriller movie. Or
the room number where the evil guy stayed in a horror film.
A good way to not be obscure is to write trivia after
seeing the film, than during the film. The film will
confirm details, but don't study every frame to dredge up
facts nobody remembers. If you can't explain why it's
important to the movie, then you probably shouldn't do
trivia on it.
3. A photo or image can be more than eye candy
There's many a great trivia question hiding behind a photo
that relates to the movie, or TV show or video game that
you want to write about. If you do have a photo you could
use, try crafting a question around the photo (instead of
throwing in the photo later into the mix as an after
thought).
2. Know how you want to be known
Do you want to be known as the ultimate expert on a
specific movie, TV show, video game, actor or celebrity? Or
are you a lover of a whole movie genre or pop culture area?
If it's the latter, then show your range with the depth and
variety of questions that you submit. Remember, with every
question you submit, you are developing your reputation
within a community of fellow trivia and entertainment fans.
1. Don't write when you don't feel like it
The best trivia questions take life when your brain cells
are popping with creative ideas. It's no different than
being in the mood for any form of creative writing, be it a
short story, a blog post, a novella. Anything good that's
worth sharing with others just cannot be rushed. If it
isn't working for you, take a break, go for a walk. Then
get back to it a bit later.
Finally, you've read all this, but still don't feel like
writing trivia questions? Then just don't. You can always
just play trivia games instead.
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At http://kwanzoo.com/ we have free trivia games for
entertainment fans. You can play trivia games about your
favorite films, tv shows or even video games. We invite you
to come create your own trivia game, submit a single trivia
question, or just play along with your friends.
