{"id":19095,"date":"2018-05-03T01:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T08:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=19095"},"modified":"2018-05-08T22:11:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T05:11:00","slug":"how-is-the-question-by-beth-barany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/03\/how-is-the-question-by-beth-barany\/","title":{"rendered":"How is the Question by Beth Barany"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>As a young twenty-something, I went through an intense WHY phase. It didn\u2019t seem to get me anywhere, just generated more guesses and more stories. A boyfriend told me that that asking WHY was a useless endeavor. I didn\u2019t want to believe him, yet I was no closer to any satisfying answers.<\/p>\n

Asking WHY got me searching for reasons.<\/h3>\n

THE POWER OF ASKING QUESTIONS<\/h2>\n

When I was in eighth grade, Mrs. Maffei taught us how to answer essay questions. Then she gave us three-hour essay exams, like I eventually had as an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. My eighth grade teacher was preparing us for college, teaching us how to analyze questions, and threw us into muddling through answering them.<\/p>\n

From that experience, I never forgot the power of asking questions. Mrs. Maffei instilled in me a menu of keywords that acted as a decoder for any essay question. I kept that list in a plastic sleeve with other important writing resources and eventually posted it on my blog here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant better answers? Ask better questions?\u201d<\/h3>\n

So ask yourself, \u201cHow can I ask a better question here?\u201d<\/p>\n

HOW\u2026 A great word you can use to open any tight-lipped topic, like prying open a can. Just apply a little finesse and a little pressure. And voila, you have an answer!<\/p>\n

In other words, HOW questions \u2014 like any good questions \u2014 can focus your attention for an extended period of time and spur you into action.<\/p>\n

How is a good question to ask, like:<\/strong><\/p>\n