LIsa Marie Ackerly

I attribute my success to my passion for writing and my ability to tap into creativity in a unique way. I was born with bipolar type 1, and while it's not something I'd call a gift because it comes with challenges, I see it as a potential that I can tap into. I've found that people with mental illness tend to be more creative in their own way, and I can use that to connect with myself and other situations, extracting something good from experiences and making something positive, especially when starting with a negative. That ability to transform difficult experiences into meaningful creative work has been a big part of what drives my success.

The best career advice I ever received came fairly recently when I was struggling with the opening line of my memoir. I was overthinking what would draw readers in and keep them reading past the first page. A friend told me something that completely changed my approach: 'Write the truth. Don't edit yourself before you write. Literally just write the truth down. You can go and fix all the grammatical stuff later. Write the truth down, and you'll find your first line.' That advice about not editing before I write, because I'm just screwing myself over and not being honest, was huge. I realized that people can notice when you're not being truthful or when you're holding back. Even though it sounds like a no-brainer, a lot of people start going there and maybe BSing a bit. But if you're writing something as personal as a memoir, the truth is obviously huge. So the lesson is: don't get discouraged, just get that truth out, and then you can edit it after. I think I pretty much got a lot closer to finding my first line after following that advice.

I'd say follow your dreams, but have a backup plan. I know that sounds really terrible, like you're expecting to fall on your face, and you will fall on your face a lot of times in creative fields. But have something you can rely on for putting food on the table. If you go full throttle and jump right into becoming a writer and have success after success and don't have to worry about having something on the side for financial reasons, by golly Jesus, do it. I'm proud of you. But I think when I was younger, about 20 years ago, I really was like 'I gotta do this,' and I realized I should have something realistic on the side. Not to say that my passion and the writing was bad, it's just not necessarily something that's easy to make a living off of unless you're really quick with it. And things are changing - nobody wants books, they want e-books and short reads. I wouldn't want the stress and deadlines to affect the creativity, because when you have to write an album in 6 months per contract, is it good? Maybe. But other artists who get more time, who take 4 years and don't have to worry about the pressures of putting food on the table, they can focus on quality. So just have something that'll help you survive, and then pursue the passion on the side and utilize it whenever you can. Learn from both, because even if you're just doing a customer service job, you can learn from that. Maybe there's something funny you can extract from it, or a life lesson. You never know - even talking to someone on the phone who has a story about why they can't pay their bill, that's compassion, and it's something you can grow with. Learn to grow with everything and have a backup plan.

One of the biggest challenges is accepting that someone's always going to know more vocabulary words than you, and someone's always going to be better at it, in your own mind. I heard this quote one time that really relates: 'If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.' You want to be around people who are making mistakes too. For instance, for every 15 poems I've tried, maybe one I'll share with someone. It won't necessarily be the greatest, I don't know, but I'll throw away 10 or 15 others. You will be making mistakes in the sense that you may not reach what you exactly want to have reached without time and practice and pouring your heart out and being truthful. The challenge is persevering through all those failed attempts and continuing to develop your craft.

The big thing for me is integrity - that's huge. I'd also say being fair is very important to me. I have a lot of empathy, which is good and bad, but I've come to realize that empathy and being compassionate to people are essential values. Being honest is critical as well. And overall, my philosophy is simple: don't be a jerk. If you have to tell the truth, make it constructive criticism, as opposed to saying 'this really sucks, get it away from me.' I mean, who are you to say that? So treating people with respect and kindness while still being honest is where I stand on that.