A couple of years ago I strategically started a YouTube channel after my debut story collection was sold to a publisher. I thought it would be a good way to build an audience before the book came out. It started as a writing channel but quickly became a reading channel—though recently I’ve gone back to focusing on writing. I try to post every Sunday. In order to have something to post I need to be writing, so the channel has turned into a reason for me to write. I’m the type to need external pressure, and having to get a video up has been a big motivating factor.
On the channel I like to do writing challenges, for example, trying an author’s writing routine or trying to write a short story every day for a week. I’ve recently started using prompts, which has been fun and helpful. There is a website called what3words.com where you put in a random location and it gives you three words. I try to write three sentences using one word each. It’s been great for when I have an idea I want to write about but am stuck on where to start. It gives me a way into a story that I can later expand on while also providing me with limiters. That way a lot of overthinking is taken out of my writing process.
—Lydia Mathis, author of Desperate Bodies (Roxane Gay Books, 2026)