What's your question-writing process?

I've asked this question in each of the profiles I've done so far and plan to continue so that readers and I can get an idea of the huge range of ways people develop to put together their games, all in the interest of sharing helpful knowledge and learning from each other so we can put on the best trivia that we can. So that it doesn't seem like I'm culling people for their secrets without sharing my own, though, I thought I'd describe a new question-writing method I've recently started that has made the whole process of finding new topics and speaking to a range of difficulty levels much faster and easier than it previously had been for me.

It's pretty basic, really, and I'm probably not the only one who does it, but I call it Wiki-hopping: I use Wikipedia's "Random Article" option, clicking from page to page until I find something that would make good trivia. That's pretty much it. It brings me to subject matter I wouldn't have thought to write about before, and it's educational for me, too. Of course, the drawback is that if it's a topic I don't know very well myself, I might have trouble gauging the difficulty level, but for Bucc Bowl, we started triple-checking each other's questions before the May game so that each of us with our very different areas of expertise has the chance to make recommendations before the questions "go live."

I end up clicking through a lot of useless sludge, but I also learn a lot in the process. All of the questions I wrote for the June Bucc Bowl except for the bonuses I produced this way, and it took me less time than usual. Some people question Wikipedia's accuracy, so I pay attention to the website's own cautions at the top of the articles and don't use entries that need brushing up. Even on articles without cautions, I'll sometimes seek corroborating information from other sources. And of course, there is always our triple-checking system. If Thorn or Lillian spots a problem, we revise and try again.

Here are a few I put together today by Wiki-hopping for your trivial pleasure:

1. Oscar-winning film and radio star Mercedes "Mercy" McCambridge was once called "the world's greatest living radio actress" by what filmmaker?

2. What country scored the most medals in cross-country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics?

3. What TV show was the first- and second-season character Janice Licalsi written off of because producers didn't want to have a murderous police officer as a central figure?

4. Mohammed Ali Hammadi is a Lebanese member of Hezbollah who was convicted for his role in the hijacking of an airplane from what airline in 1985?

5. Messali Hadj was a politician and activist who worked for his country's independence from France in the 1940s and 1950s. What country was he from?

Lotus, Orianne, Lette, Cerys at Lebn's trivia

1. Orson Welles. McCambridge won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in All the King's Men. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She worked with Welles on the film Touch of Evil.

2. Russia, with two golds, two silvers, and three bronzes.

3. NYPD Blue. The character, played by Amy Brenneman, killed a mob boss and his driver because the mob boss wanted her to murder her lover, played by David Caruso.

4. TWA. Flight 847 from Athens to Rome was rerouted and its passengers held hostage for two weeks before being released.

5. Algeria. Ironically, after Algeria won their independence in 1962, Hadj went into exile in France because an opposing party had taken Algeria over as a one-party state.

Of course, any of these answers could be found via google pretty easily; most likely, people will find the Wiki page I used right at the top of their searches. But first, even if one question were googled, the googler wouldn't then find all the others along with it, and second, I try to write questions in a way that will make it possible to guess if no one knows the answer right away. Even if you've never heard of McCambridge, Hammadi, and Hadj, you've probably heard of Welles, TWA, and Algeria, which means spamming filmmakers, airlines, and former French colonies will eventually lead to the correct answer.

Anyone who likes to is welcome to borrow or adapt this method. Yes, I know there are flaws in it, but pretty much any method has flaws. Methods that are based on the trivia writer's knowledge or access to specific sources will be biased in favor of players with the same general area of knowledge as the writer. This obviously does not make bad trivia, but unbiased trivia would be preferable. Just ask anyone who isn't from the U.S. how it is to sit through yet another game speckled with questions about states, presidents, and baseball. There will always be a balancing of strengths and weaknesses.

So if you like, please comment on your own methods or recommendations or what have you.

Also, sorry I've been so quiet in the blog this past week. I'll try to pick things back up for y'all soon!