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From Describing Close Reasons:

not a real question

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous and vague, and cannot be answered in its current form.

And, from the SO site FAQ:

Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

Those two quotes pretty much sum it up: if you don't know what you want to ask, then you need to figure that out before asking on SO. You can ask multiple questions in your search for an answer, describe the problems you're having, etc... But each question by itself has to be clear, specific, and answerable. If you want a forum where a tutor will go back and forth with you trying to draw out what you actually want and/or need, then go find one - SO is not the place for this.

That might sound harsh, but trust me - in the end, it saves everyone a lot of time and frustration. And sooner or later, every new programmer will need to learn how to sit down and think through his problem to the point where he has a concrete question that needs answering... encouraging this can only be a good thing.

And FWIW, the newbie questions I see closed as NaRQ usually get comments asking for clarification first - it's when the author doesn't respond that the close votes catch up.

From Describing Close Reasons:

not a real question

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous and vague, and cannot be answered in its current form.

And, from the SO site FAQ:

Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

Those two quotes pretty much sum it up: if you don't know what you want to ask, then you need to figure that out before asking on SO. You can ask multiple questions in your search for an answer, describe the problems you're having, etc... But each question by itself has to be clear, specific, and answerable. If you want a forum where a tutor will go back and forth with you trying to draw out what you actually want and/or need, then go find one - SO is not the place for this.

That might sound harsh, but trust me - in the end, it saves everyone a lot of time and frustration. And sooner or later, every new programmer will need to learn how to sit down and think through his problem to the point where he has a concrete question that needs answering... encouraging this can only be a good thing.

And FWIW, the newbie questions I see closed as NaRQ usually get comments asking for clarification first - it's when the author doesn't respond that the close votes catch up.

From Describing Close Reasons:

not a real question

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous and vague, and cannot be answered in its current form.

And, from the SO site FAQ:

Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

Those two quotes pretty much sum it up: if you don't know what you want to ask, then you need to figure that out before asking on SO. You can ask multiple questions in your search for an answer, describe the problems you're having, etc... But each question by itself has to be clear, specific, and answerable. If you want a forum where a tutor will go back and forth with you trying to draw out what you actually want and/or need, then go find one - SO is not the place for this.

That might sound harsh, but trust me - in the end, it saves everyone a lot of time and frustration. And sooner or later, every new programmer will need to learn how to sit down and think through his problem to the point where he has a concrete question that needs answering... encouraging this can only be a good thing.

And FWIW, the newbie questions I see closed as NaRQ usually get comments asking for clarification first - it's when the author doesn't respond that the close votes catch up.

From Describing Close Reasons:

not a real question

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous and vague, and cannot be answered in its current form.

And, from the SO site FAQ:

Avoid asking questions that are subjective, argumentative, or require extended discussion. This is not a discussion board, this is a place for questions that can be answered!

Those two quotes pretty much sum it up: if you don't know what you want to ask, then you need to figure that out before asking on SO. You can ask multiple questions in your search for an answer, describe the problems you're having, etc... But each question by itself has to be clear, specific, and answerable. If you want a forum where a tutor will go back and forth with you trying to draw out what you actually want and/or need, then go find one - SO is not the place for this.

That might sound harsh, but trust me - in the end, it saves everyone a lot of time and frustration. And sooner or later, every new programmer will need to learn how to sit down and think through his problem to the point where he has a concrete question that needs answering... encouraging this can only be a good thing.

And FWIW, the newbie questions I see closed as NaRQ usually get comments asking for clarification first - it's when the author doesn't respond that the close votes catch up.