Christy Shuler

I remember July of 2018 quite vividly. I had just started my YouTube channel in the hopes of putting myself "out there" in the writing community and meeting other writers in the process. What was unique about July is that I noticed many of the writers in the "authortube" community posting vlogs of something called Camp NaNoWriMo. To be honest with you, I had no idea what this was. I had heard of people tossing around the words nano this and nano that. I knew it had something to do with novel writing and these writers online had a genuine enthusiasm for it, so my interest was peaked. In case you aren't familiar, I'll start with the basics. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, which happens every year in November. The intention is that writers can push themselves to achieve the goal of writing an entire novel (or, at least, 50,000 words) in just thirty days. People that would otherwise struggle to self-motivate and stay on course can be...

I often look back on my days in college as the most productive time I have ever had when it comes to my writing. In college you are faced with both deadlines and feedback from your peers that can be encouraging, disheartening, or sometimes a little of both. In either event, it is usually constructive and you learn a great deal from it. I have found since graduating that, without the peer group, my ability to push myself to that same level of productivity comes in waves. Sometimes I'm able to keep my self-imposed deadlines and strict writing routine, but it can often feel like I'm banging my head against the same impenetrable wall over and over, hoping with each impact to break through. I started to wonder if perhaps I was making the same decisions in my writing over and over and expecting different results. Over the years, I've debated whether or not I would benefit from joining a local writer's group. Since I am such an introverted person, the thought of physic...