How I write riddles:
- I say to myself: "Self, it is time to write a riddle."
- I make a list of various objects or ideas for riddle answers.
- I test them out for puns, idiomatic expressions, or multiple meanings.
- If it isn't working, I grab the next possibility or take part of what I have and use it for another answer that works better with a good clue (sometimes the riddle mutates).
- I look for lines that rhyme with a given meter, and try to piece at least four lines together with the clues and rhyming, though for some riddles it works better without this poetic addition.
- I proofread the riddle and change words that are too obvious or obscure.
- I smile, and feel pleased with myself for being so creative.
- I wait for the rankings to see just how deluded my ego has become.
My favorite riddle that I wrote:
What have I got in my pocket
Oh yeah, I didn't write that one.
My favorite riddle that I really wrote:
I'm a home and a workplace,
Though I move all around;
Flags, lights, and towers
On me can be found.
I live on the water,
Though I own the sky.
When I am in trouble,
My children will fly.
Though I move all around;
Flags, lights, and towers
On me can be found.
I live on the water,
Though I own the sky.
When I am in trouble,
My children will fly.
Doug's Favorite riddle that he didn't write
This house holds rooms, one score and six,
That shelter a vast mob.
It lets lions lie down with the lambs,
Yet makes both shun the slob.
None now will nestle with nicks and nates,
While reams room near the rear.
Though you and I have separate rooms
Both our bottles brim with beer.
The king and queen can never mate
(Though hands and hearts hobnob)
Because their rooms are separate
If this jail does its job.
What house is this that rules thus
Forcing faith to fend with fear?
The answer to this riddle lies
With dead and dying here
That shelter a vast mob.
It lets lions lie down with the lambs,
Yet makes both shun the slob.
None now will nestle with nicks and nates,
While reams room near the rear.
Though you and I have separate rooms
Both our bottles brim with beer.
The king and queen can never mate
(Though hands and hearts hobnob)
Because their rooms are separate
If this jail does its job.
What house is this that rules thus
Forcing faith to fend with fear?
The answer to this riddle lies
With dead and dying here
See Doug's page on Using riddles in a Classroom.
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