As some of you may have read here, the mods and admins are working on setting up a blog for the Atheist Forums. We want to populate it with user-generated content. In other words, we would like anyone who is willing and capable to write blog posts about atheism to do so for our blog. Though we haven't discussed all of the details yet, we may also need some blog posts from theist perspectives, but most likely always regarding atheism in some way.

We are getting closer to having the blog up and running. The more tech savvy admins (meaning more tech savvy than myself) are getting it ready for us, particularly theVoid and Tiberius (I hope I spelled that correctly. ) We would like to have some blog posts to put on the blog before it goes live, so we don't have a one post blog. In my experience, this will look better and attract more readers. Therefore, we are asking you to help us get the blog populated. I will also be doing some writing.

Here are some title ideas that I came up with based on common searches with the keyword atheism. Try to represent all atheists with some of these, not just yourself. (Titles in red are being worked on by other members. If they become available again, we'll remove the color.)

Do atheists hate Christians?

Atheist Jokes

What is atheism?

Best Books on Atheism

Are atheists smarter?

Are atheists evil?

Are atheists immoral?

Please feel free to post title/topic ideas here, if you have any of your own. We'll discuss which ones you want. If you would like to write one of these, please post it here and I, or another mod, will strike that from the list so we don't have dupe posts. We will also add your ideas to this list, unless you know you want to write them, in which case, it would be cool if you indicate that when you post the title idea here. We'll let you know if we like the title idea and whether you should get to work on it. For now, it will be a we need titles situation. In the future, I believe we plan on giving a few of you creative license and access to the blog so you can post whatever you want.

A few things to note before writing:

We plan on having a way that we can reference our sources in a uniform manner. Please put links to any sources you used for facts in your articles at the end of the article when you submit.

Forum rules will apply to these blog posts, wherever applicable. In other words, no hate speech, etc.

We recommend that you keep your articles between 600 and 1000 words, as this is a good length for internet attention span. However, we will not reject shorter or longer posts that are well written and cover the topic at hand acceptably.

Try to spell and grammar check your blog posts, as they represent the community as a whole. If you need any help with proofreading, PM me the blog post and I will run it through my software and read it over.

Once you have written a blog post, if you choose to do so, pm it to any of the mods/admins, so we can get it posted on the blog.

I think this covers everything. I will post updates in here if we or I think of anything else. Please do not feel obligated to do this, as we know that not everyone likes to write.

Well for a topic idea maybe something to do with evolution and how it relates to atheism? Seen as that is a big point of contention for many theists. I know it's not a point regarding atheism directly but it is something which is important on these forums and when arguments between theists and atheists arise.

I wouldn't mind writing something on any of the topics listed but I doubt I'm the best person to do so.

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Also something else for a title idea could be
"Common Atheist Misconsceptions"

As in what atheists are assumed to believe.

(July 27, 2011 at 2:47 pm)Napoleon Wrote: Well for a topic idea maybe something to do with evolution and how it relates to atheism? Seen as that is a big point of contention for many theists. I know it's not a point regarding atheism directly but it is something which is important on these forums and when arguments between theists and atheists arise.

I wouldn't mind writing something on any of the topics listed but I doubt I'm the best person to do so.

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Also something else for a title idea could be
"Common Atheist Misconsceptions"

As in what atheists are assumed to believe.

I like both ideas. The first one would have to be a more direct topic, though, such as "Are all atheists evolutionists" or "Evolution's Impact on Atheism." Being specific draws more readers and, believe it or not, makes it easier to write to the topic.

Well, pick a topic that you feel comfortable with and see what you can do, if you want to. I can help with any questions you have, if you are inexperienced with blog writing. I can also help with grammar questions. Speaking of which, this is a great resource . . . http://www.scribd.com/doc/2664713/Associ...the-basics

Well I'm not sure how I'd even go about writing a blog if I'm honest. I'd love to try and perhaps will, but seen as I don't even visit any blogs or use any I would be terrible. I'll take a stab at the misconceptions one if you don't mind.

I'll look up how to write for a blog first obviously. But after I'll just put together what I can.

I'll send you whatever I do in a few days time? If what I do is crap then I'll try not to hold any grudges if you decide not to use it

(July 27, 2011 at 3:21 pm)Napoleon Wrote: Well I'm not sure how I'd even go about writing a blog if I'm honest. I'd love to try and perhaps will, but seen as I don't even visit any blogs or use any I would be terrible. I'll take a stab at the misconceptions one if you don't mind.

I'll look up how to write for a blog first obviously. But after I'll just put together what I can.

I'll send you whatever I do in a few days time? If what I do is crap then I'll try not to hold any grudges if you decide not to use it

Yeah, I encourage you to go for it. It is no different from writing an article or paper for school. I'll knock the misconceptions one off the list so you can have a go at it. Send it to me when it is done. If it is crap, I can help you make it better. The only thing that is really important is that you make the points you are trying to make and address the topic at hand. Oh, and don't make up facts, like "Most Christians think . . ." If you aren't sure or don't have a study reference, don't add it. Here is a bit about blog posts and general writing to get you started.

The introduction: Give an overview of the topic without repeating information you are going to use in your topic. Talk a little bit about atheism and the fact that there are misconceptions, but don't mention the misconceptions you are adding to the article unless it is in passing. Doing so is redundant.

Each paragraph should contain at least three sentences and no more than ten. Five to eight is the sweet spot.

The body of the article (in your case) should be something of a list format, but don't bother making a list. Just address each misconception in a single paragraph, if possible. If you aren't sure if it is good, read it out loud. If it sounds bonkers when you read it, write it how you would say it.

Add a closing paragraph. Not having one kind of leaves your readers hanging. Close out with some thoughts on the subject. For example, does it seem like these misconceptions are going away? Do you have any ideas of how to help rid people of these misconceptions? Talk about it however you want, just don't end it like a drunken one night stand.

Will illustrations be acceptable, and if so what are the criteria?

(July 27, 2011 at 3:39 pm)DaveD Wrote: Will illustrations be acceptable, and if so what are the criteria?

Interesting. We have not discussed that. Without taking in the other mods and admins' opinions, which I will do in a moment, I would probably say that they have to follow forum rules as far as topic, such as, no hate speech or images and no pornography. As for accepting it, I would think, and this is just me, that we would accept illustrations. I will run this by the others and get back to you.

(July 27, 2011 at 3:39 pm)DaveD Wrote: Will illustrations be acceptable, and if so what are the criteria?

Just to keep you updated, we haven't all had a chance to weigh in on this yet. Don't worry. As we near launch, kinks will be worked out and I will know exactly what we can do/want to do/have to do.

I actually already write a blog on these matters and more, which can be found here:

http://martinsobservations.tumblr.com

I'd be happy to either forward anything from there that you like for use here, or I'd be happy to write on one or more of those topics as long as you don't mind me reposting them to my personal blog also?

(August 3, 2011 at 6:16 am)ElDinero Wrote: I'd be happy to either forward anything from there that you like for use here, or I'd be happy to write on one or more of those topics as long as you don't mind me reposting them to my personal blog also?

I think we're trying to keep the posts as original to our blog. I know this is a lot to ask of writers who have their own blogs, but we're doing this to help support the site. Thank you, though.

ETA: I will post here if that changes or we decide to go with duplicate copy.