Show Time —

And then there were ten…

Ten fresh-faced bloggers ready to forge a new path for Fat Acceptance.

And the day we shall begin this new quest is Monday, February 15.

Several things will happen that day. I will post the mystery interview to my PodBean account, where there are approximately 50 people signed up to receive that. I’ll link both to this website, the revised Atchka!, and to a guest post I’m going to do for We Are the Real Deal.

Between those 50 people and the WATRD readers, we should get a nice jump start on readers, so we should start with some strong content next week. I have decided that it will probably be best to hold editorial meetings on Fridays, so you all can write your entry over the weekend (if you’re so inclined) and then post on whatever day you’re tackling.

Ideally, I’d like to have fresh content every day, but I know that’s not going to be possible, so let’s just try and be as profuse as we can within our abilities.

Personally, I’m going to be hobbled for the next few months due to my industry’s busy season, so I’ll be swamped with work and will probably not be able to be as active as I like. I will make an extra effort to post in the evenings or when I have extra time. But I think that planning ahead (i.e., picking a day and theme on Friday) will give us plenty of time to plan and execute daily content.

I’ve created a set of daily themes to help spark those creative juices. If you have a post idea that doesn’t fit any of them, save it for Themeless Thursday or let me know and we’ll create a theme day just for your idea. We’re that flexible!

One thing I’d like to try and do is have someone do a Woman of the Week entry every Wednesday, if possible. To see how I’ve done WOW in the past, check it out a few entries here. I have compiled a list of 52 (or more, I forget) potential candidates for Woman of the Week. I included the Word file of this list on Ning, here.

Also on Ning, I’ve created a preliminary set of guidelines for posting to help our entries have a consistent look and feel. I’ve also posted a question as to whether any of you would be interested in creating a sort of peer critique program, where we can give each other constructive criticism about our posts. I think FFFs can be a good way to improve our blogging skills if we’re open to each others’ feedback.

We’ve got a lot of talent and diversity in this little collective of ours. I think we can really add something fresh and unique to the Fat Acceptance dialogue. But the only way we’re going to be successful is if we all invest in this project. I’m not asking for your first-born male child (although I’m not ruling it out in the future either), but I am asking you to keep FFFs at the top of your internet priorities.

Whether that means commenting on your fellow bloggers’ entries to foster dialogue and community, or attempting to post something on a weekly basis, or even getting out there and doing some shameless self-promoting. Whatever you think your particular skill-set, your particular personality is suited to contributing, do that. Help us create a new forum for discussing fat issues and a new way of engaging the wider world.

Thank you all for jumping in so enthusiastically. I’m quite pleased with the team we’ve pulled together, as well as the space we’ve created. As always, if you have any recommendations, complaints, questions, WHATEVER, feel free to email me at atchka@hotmail.com. There’s nothing you can say that will offend, upset or anger me (unless it’s, “Hey Shannon, you’re not a real Fat Acceptance advocate because…” Other than that, feel free to tell me what I’m doing wrong.

T-minus four days and counting.