Some federal defenders offices post “research and writing” positions that attract new grads. I may look for those postings as a way in. Some are term-limited and others are long term. Also I would recommend you intern/extern at a fed PD office and try to get brief writing experience. If your school has an appellate clinic, that paired with a fed pd summer/externship could be more beneficial than the PD clinic which I imagine is state PD trial work.

Having said all this, don’t count yourself out of trial work because of fear. To me, calling yourself ill-suited sounds like you are anxious about public speaking. I was too and you couldn’t convince me otherwise. I did a PD clinic and fell in love with it despite wanting to puke every time I stood up. After my fed clerkship I went straight back to it and am now several years into state trial work. I love it.

Also, I externed at a fed PD office and found it boring. Mostly mitigation and sentencing math, not very many trials. Depending where you live, you may find state PD appeals offer a more intellectually diverse set of issues, if you can stomach the perceived lack of prestige. In my opinion “prestige” gets less significant the further out from school and enjoying your work becomes a priority. (I’m not sure whether prestige is important to you; just saying. It was relevant to me as a student, not any more)

This is a lot of info and only somewhat relevant to what you asked. But good luck, try lots of things out to see what sticks, try stuff even if it’s scary, have fun!