Heck... I think in terms of overall question writing, we all have to do something about good quality tossup and bonus questions. Writing a good question takes a lot of time and good quality research. The amount you put into a question will be reflected in the type of question you get out of it. For example... a free tossup: 1) Who wrote Moby Dick? 2) "Call Me Ishmael" begins this author's book Moby Dick. 3) Mardi, Redburn, and White-Jacket are the three immediate works preceding this author's greatest novel. For ten points, name the writer of "Moby Dick." 4) He died of heart failure 30 years after publishing his last novel The Confidence-Man. For ten points, name this writer best known for the opening line "Call Me Ishmael" in his masterwork "Moby Dick." 5) His books are typically about man's struggle against nature and despite their academic acceptance really have no literary value whatsoever. For ten points, name this writer best known for "Moby Dick". Most people (like certain question-writing for-profit companies) tend to want to write in style 1 or style 2. Most collegians prefer style 3 or 4. A lot of collegians write in style 5, thinking it passes as styles 3 or 4. A lot of players get miffed by style 5, but nevertheless, people still write that type of question up when submitting questions. The problem is that a lot of HS teams prefer playing in styles 1 or 2 and claim the questions are too hard if you give them 3 or 4. When these kids try out for college qb, they drop out because they are too ill-prepared for the depth-rewarding questions that are the norm (or should be) in the college circuit. At any rate... you can see the subtleties in each style, what makes each question good or bad. The difference between style 3 and 4, while both are good, is that (3) is more rewarding to list-memorizers while (4) rewards more in-depth knowledge about Melville himself. Personally I prefer 4, though I will write some 3's because they are a bit easier to do.
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