The one question people always mess up at Q&A panels

I go to a lot of local author talks and community Q&A events. And every single time, someone asks a question that is really just them making a long statement. Like a 3 minute story with no question at the end. Last week at the library downtown, a guy went on about his cat for 5 minutes and then just said "thoughts?" I've noticed this got way worse after 2020. People forgot how to ask clear questions. They want to sound smart or share their own story instead. I think it kills the flow for everyone else waiting. Has anyone else noticed this shift or am I at the wrong events?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonl861mo ago

Oh man, this hits so hard. I was at a writing panel last month and some lady spent a full 4 minutes describing her novel before just trailing off and nobody knew what to do lol.

olivia_webb1mo ago

Simonl86, I had something similar happen at a workshop a few years back. A guy got about halfway through his story and just stopped, looking around like he'd forgotten what he was saying. What worked for me when I started feeling that panic was to just ask something simple. A quiet "and then what happened?" or "how did your character handle that?" can get things moving again without making it awkward. People are usually just nervous and need a little nudge to keep going.