To Get Better Ideas, David Lynch Says You Need To “Catch” Creativity

Perennial weirdo, transcendental meditator, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director, amateur meteorologist, and creative powerhouse David Lynch explained what he understands to be the secrets of creativity in an animated video from The Atlantic.

“Ideas are like fish,” he says, “and you don’t make a fish, you catch the fish.” Lynch goes on to suggest that ideas take patience and self-forgiveness, dissolving the common stereotype that artists need to suffer in order to reach their full creative potential.

This is all solid advice, but because we’re dealing with David Lynch and not a high school creative writing teacher, there are bound to be some conceptual surprises. Let’s just say he talks about Van Gogh getting diarrhea and it totally makes sense somehow.

Image via video screenshot

Watch the video above to get the full scoop on David Lynch’s creative process and how it can help you unlock your own imagination.