Olivie Blake is Not Writing: Live Index
For ease of consuming my Not Writing series, here is an index of every discussion topic featured in the videos. It is updated regularly.
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Writing Advice:
Translating craft strengths from fanfic to original work, On feeling creatively blocked when going from fanfic to original work
How to write large friend groups, How do you write ensemble casts that don't become long character studies?
Do you need a day job to write?, How I make money (valuing creative careers), Making your art your career, How to choose an artistic pursuit over a "traditional" career
On hybrid authorship (concurrent indie + traditional publishing), Costs of traditional vs indie publishing (creative control), further thoughts on self-publishing (THE ATLAS SIX)
How to manage multiple works in progress, How I write and research books
How to get a scene you've visualized out of your head and onto the page
How to write (and defend) morally grey female characters, How to write angry women
How to get from point A to point B (building up your writing endurance), How to maintain your focus when you hit the hard part of a draft, Microsoft Word is too sterile for me to hang onto an idea (writing endurance), How to take a small idea to a full draft
Things to consider before submitting your fiction for publication
How to combat writer's block and be creatively productive, follow-up on my personal writer's "block"
Writing strong female casts instead of Strong Female Characters
What to do when people misunderstand your art (negative reviews), how to deal with critical feedback
Investing in your interests (why Harry Potter fanfic?)
Love and Sex:
Choosing the friendship when you're in love with a friend, Help I'm in love with my guy friend, Should I tell a friend I like them romantically?
Moving on when you don't get closure, What to do when you've been ghosted, Dealing with a tough break-up
When kink is really misogyny (the case against Armie Hammer)
If he's honest, kind, and patient but we have no chemistry, am I selfish for walking away?, should I break up with my wonderful boyfriend?
Should I be feeling butterflies? (dating lethargy), how to date without getting emotionally exhausted
Loving someone through distance and romantic dissonance, How to comfort a significant other from a distance (emotional labor and love languages)
Should I wait for the one or date casually?, I want to have sex, should I wait for a relationship?
How to combat your tendency to cut and run in relationships (how to better yourself in relationships)
Is it necessary to live with my significant other before marriage?
Choosing yourself in relationships (how to lose him to love you)
Am I bisexual? (questions about your sexuality)
What if I don't care about sex? (being on the ace/demi spectrum)
Help, I'm horny (and a virgin)
I'm in my thirties and looking for romance (how do I ask someone out?)
My relationships never seem to last (is the problem me?)
Recurring feelings for someone I shouldn't date (make these feelings go away!)
Sex advice for someone without experience (lubrication!)
Friends and Family:
How to distance yourself from your family's religion (dealing with guilt), How to distance yourself from religion pt. II (difference between faith and institution)
How do you know when a friendship is over, Are you the toxic one in your friend breakup?, Why do friend breakups hurt so much
How to stop comparing yourself to others (especially friends)
Is it worth expressing my beliefs if my family doesn't want to listen?
Mental Health and Wellness
How to handle times of stress, Stress prevention techniques, Managing career/job-related anxiety
Should I quit law school? (the costs of being on a path you don't like)
Post-isolation mental health and feeling behind in achievement or relationships
How to deal with college rejection (and all rejection generally), Dealing with Rejection v2021
How to deal with bad things when "this too shall pass" mentality doesn't work
Am I having a mid-life crisis? (losing your sense of childhood)
Surviving times of political difficulty (anger, helplessness)
How to motivate yourself to exercise, how to stay disciplined with exercise
How to combat your self-destructive tendencies (people who cut and run)
Accuracy of artistic portrayals of bipolar disorder, What is bipolar disorder
Being honest with yourself about mental health ("I don't want to admit something is wrong because I am very functional")
Career, Academia, and Success:
Should I quit my job?, Should I quit my day job for a creative pursuit?, Should I change jobs?, Should I quit law school? (the costs of being on a path you don't like), Should I quit my academic program?
Finding a job outside the limitations of your degree, Help I feel like I'm behind (changing careers)
How to deal with college rejection (and all rejection generally), Dealing with Rejection v2021
How to accomplish your goals despite major life changes/coping with uncertainty
How do I deal with feeling "other" in a predominantly white space?
Am I having a mid-life crisis? (losing your sense of childhood)
I feel like I'm behind (there is no correct way to be a human being)
Feminism and Womanhood
Red flags of misogyny/things I learned about men from boxing, When kink is really misogyny (the case against Armie Hammer)
The paradox of aging as a woman, What hobbies are respectable for older women?/Aging in fandom
Self-love and self-acceptance, the identity crisis of pregnancy
Are female tropes "cliches" (Mary Sues, vampire romances)
Dissociative feminism ("The New Trend in Feminism is Feeling Nothing," Fleabag and portrayals of womanhood), white feminism
How the concept of Selena Gomez's "Lose You to Love Me" is important for women (emotional labor)
Why we should all be Unapologetic Ladies (women in Georgian England)
Female managers (how women are judged in management positions by other women)
Miscellaneous/About Me:
Why I can't sell you a copy of my previously self-published books
Thoughts on the legality of book-inspired merch, a note about piracy and merch
Romance tropes I enjoy/recommendations
How I personally make money/maintain creative control/research books
Discourse on morality in fiction is annoying but media criticism exists for a reason
I'm like, really mad about my cousin's 23andme results (subtitle: colonialism)
U.S. elections, the two-party system, checks and balances, 2020 presidential election outcome
Things to know before your first tattoo, how to prep for a tattoo
How to read Basile the vampire from How to Win Friends and Influence People
Taylor Swift theories (pre-Folklore)
Excerpts:
"The Immortality Project," from THE ANSWER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS YES
Basile the vampire from How to Win Friends and Influence People
"To All the Boys I Never Fucked" from STARGAZING IS NECROPHILIA
"Clara and the Devil" from THE LOVERS GRIM
"The Twelve Huntsmen" from MIDSUMMER NIGHT DREAMS
"Once It Happens" from THE LOVERS GRIM