try some game jam. You could find a team and maybe publish a little game.
There are also game jams that aren't full remote, for example Global Game Jam

shaders are black magic. I've been working with unity for years but still don't know almost anything about shaders.
I prefer to let shader artists work with it, they are paid a lot for a good reason hahaha

Some people I worked with used ArticyDraft. You can also export it in xml and import in unity. The import is also supported by the plugin Dialogue System

you don't need to be alone in game jams. I think you should find the correct team and the correct jam, for example avoid 2 days jam and try with one week jams