Using Questions to Improve Your Writing Content

If you've been writing articles for awhile, you've likely run into days where you just can't think of anything to write about. HubPages, a content writer's site, has a feature where members may ask a question of a person, or no one in particular. These questions can generate ideas for your articles (or hubs, on HubPages)!

Actually, answering questions is a great way to write, anyway. If you're writing a novel or just writing a thousand word article, asking questions throughout the process helps to produce legible content with good flow, and also makes it easier to formulate ideas you might not have thought of otherwise.

Because there are people asking questions all over the internet, the cache of this resource is endless. On HubPages, there are questions ranging from entertainment fluff to obscure professional inquiries, and everything in between.

The great thing about questions on HubPages is that they show up visibly on the My Account page. I've literally quickly scanned a question while on that page and was hit with an idea for a hub. The idea might not correlate exactly to the question, but still, fresh ideas aren't that easy to come by.

With questions asked and answers provided already monetized on many sites, there's no reason you shouldn't benefit from this, too. Next time you get stuck for an idea, take a look at some questions people are asking. You could get your next popular article from someone else's curiosity about a subject that never occurred to you before.

Philosophers and writers from the past often wrote in response to unanswered questions their minds created. Big questions, like, 'What is the nature of man?' and 'What will the world be like fifty years from now?' generally produce answers and even discussions that can help shed light on important issues.

For Henry David Thoreau, he favored asking questions like, 'What do I think of what I did today?' or 'How much did I make a difference today?' These important questions helped him (and his readers) grow as a human being. The answers to his important questions survived to inspire readers even today.

On a personal level, this article itself was written in response to the question, "Do you ever use questions to give you hub ideas?", asked by HubPages member, tillsontitan.

My answer is yes, because I've used questions and forums to write many of my articles, especially those dealing with social issues.

It's never a bad idea to bounce some of your own questions and ideas around, too. I doubt I'm the only one who's been struck with a masterful concept just by reading some replies to a question I asked, or a topic I engaged with in the forums.

Many people who read this will say, "Bah, I have no need of questions to write, every resource I need is online, readily at hand." That's true. But what about the personality and human side of people that come through in their questions and answers?

Perspective. That's how I look at it. You may see a subject from a whole different angle than I do. It's apparent that even two people having a forum discussion can enlighten themselves significantly. And don't forget that people are generally experts on one topic or another. Someone who didn't impress you with their questions or answers on one topic, might blow you away with their next idea.

Most content writers are doing so to get read and maybe earn a few bucks in the process. Article topic is the most overlooked aspect of online writing by novice internet writers. What they are writing about.

My advice to beginners is try to write about something that hasn't been done to death. Even if you think it's a good keyword and potential money maker, don't bother. The world just doesn't need more of it.

This common sense applies to writing an article from a question. Plug the question into the Google search box (in quotes, while logged out of Google) and see what comes up. This will give you an idea as to the popularity of the question and also how many quality articles have already been generated from it. If you don't think you're going to give people an answer they can't readily get from numerous sources, then you may as well look for another question to answer.

HubPages has programming that checks for duplicate questions before users ask theirs. This is hugely advantageous for users that want to answer questions that haven't already been done to death.

Look to answer questions that you're not completely unschooled on. Most online writers are aware that it's always best to write about what you know. This applies to questions, too. If you're not able to converse casually about your topic, you probably ought to do a little research before writing an article in answer to a question about it.