Hello community!
My name is Chris, and I am a fairly new activist within atheism, although I have struggled with faith for about a decade. I'm a 24 year old writer from the west coast of the U.S. I was raised in the Catholic Church, but when I turned 14 began to have issues with my faith. It took me 5 years to stop trying to convince myself to continue believing, and my family has not stopped trying to convince me yet. (I don't think they will, but I accept that part of them, as they have been good, loving parents, despite their flaws.)
I've been a writer since I was 14 as well. I never wrote a book, but wrote many persuasive essays and articles, naturally had an inclination to perform above average in debates, and love the shit out of a good argument. I've finally come to the point in my life when I realize that I would like to pursue a similar path to such greats as Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Dennett, as well as numerous other outstanding contributing atheists to the community, fighting for the regulation of what religious organizations have the right to get away with.
I have no doubt I could type out a book that provided an outstanding argument, (or at least a fairly decent one) within a year or so, and alas--the problem arrives:
Absolutely no one would know who I am, nor care. (Why should they, I understand--I've contributed nothing to the writing community on more than a local level, and never in full length novel form.)
I study Biology, Philosophy, and English in college, and most of my studies are focused on understanding religion, human culture, and morality. (As well as the scientific perspective of how we got here.) I also read plenty, so getting informed on the subject of atheism has never been my problem. I just have no clue where to start. Who do you look for to submit articles to in order to get a name out? How do you hone in on a specific argument? Is focusing on only atheism and anti-theism in my writing unbalanced in any way, and would it provide a bad/biased career?
In general, any advice would be great. This is my first post in any atheist community forum--it's about time.
My name is Chris, and I am a fairly new activist within atheism, although I have struggled with faith for about a decade. I'm a 24 year old writer from the west coast of the U.S. I was raised in the Catholic Church, but when I turned 14 began to have issues with my faith. It took me 5 years to stop trying to convince myself to continue believing, and my family has not stopped trying to convince me yet. (I don't think they will, but I accept that part of them, as they have been good, loving parents, despite their flaws.)
I've been a writer since I was 14 as well. I never wrote a book, but wrote many persuasive essays and articles, naturally had an inclination to perform above average in debates, and love the shit out of a good argument. I've finally come to the point in my life when I realize that I would like to pursue a similar path to such greats as Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Dennett, as well as numerous other outstanding contributing atheists to the community, fighting for the regulation of what religious organizations have the right to get away with.
I have no doubt I could type out a book that provided an outstanding argument, (or at least a fairly decent one) within a year or so, and alas--the problem arrives:
Absolutely no one would know who I am, nor care. (Why should they, I understand--I've contributed nothing to the writing community on more than a local level, and never in full length novel form.)
I study Biology, Philosophy, and English in college, and most of my studies are focused on understanding religion, human culture, and morality. (As well as the scientific perspective of how we got here.) I also read plenty, so getting informed on the subject of atheism has never been my problem. I just have no clue where to start. Who do you look for to submit articles to in order to get a name out? How do you hone in on a specific argument? Is focusing on only atheism and anti-theism in my writing unbalanced in any way, and would it provide a bad/biased career?
In general, any advice would be great. This is my first post in any atheist community forum--it's about time.
