Member Spotlight: Terica Turner

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing is important to me because it’s an outlet. It helps me to process my thoughts better and allows me the chance to connect and share with others and the world in a way that I cannot otherwise. Writing is an important medium in the world because it connects us and allows for free flow of thoughts and opinions.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Reading helps cure my writer’s block. It helps spur ideas and get creative juices flowing. If I’m stuck or don’t feel like writing, I read.

What is your favorite time to write? My favorite time to write is early in the morning before the world is awake and the hustle and bustle of everyday life begins.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? When beginning writing, start off with creating an outline, splitting your book into three sections, and then flesh out the sections with each chapter. After that, expand the outline by writing out bullet points for each chapter that you’d like to discuss. This helps me in my writing to follow a clear path of what I want to write, and I think it may help others, as well.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? The thing that excites me the most about writing in today’s age is the topic about which I write – mental health. We are living in a time when more and more people are being affected by mental illness. Depression and anxiety have been on the rise during the pandemic. And in 2020, there were nearly twice as many suicides as homicides in the U.S. Mental health awareness is important, and with many people suffering from mental health concerns alone, it’s imperative that we break the silence and help remove the stigma surrounding mental health and seeking help. Furthermore, the topic of mental health is taboo in many faith communities. Religious people sometimes feel that they should not get sick mentally if they are spiritual enough. But that is not a reasonable conclusion. There should be no shame surrounding having mental health concerns. And I’m excited to be a part of that movement to bring awareness and hope to those in need.

Terica Turner’s Tackling the Taboo: Navigating Anxiety, Depression & Other Mental Illnesses As a Christian is out now with Kachelman Publications.