Writing Trivia Questions That Are Fair and Fun
I have written over two thousand trivia questions and made every mistake in the book. Here is the system I use now to produce reliable, engaging questions. I have written over two thousand trivia questions across six different quiz sites, and I still cringe at some of my early ones. Ambiguous wording, misleading phrasing, answers that were technically correct but felt wrong to users. I made every mistake in the book. Writing good trivia questions is a craft, and it took me years to develop a system that produces reliable, fair, and engaging questions. Here is that system. One Question, One Fact The first rule I follow is one question, one fact. A trivia question should test knowledge of a single specific piece of information. If a question has two moving parts, users who know one fact but not the other feel cheated. I once wrote a question asking which country both borders France and has a capital starting with the letter B. The answer was Belgium, but users who thought of Germany (which borders France but has Berlin) felt misled. I now split compound questions into separate ones. If I want to test bordering countries, I ask which country borders France and is known for chocolate and waffles. More guides are on the Quiz Hub Blog.