In his new biography-memoir hybrid, Room to Dream; filmmaker, artist and Final Draft user David Lynch talks about how, as a young man, he always wanted to live the “art life.”

For Lynch, the writer and director of such films and TV shows as Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, living the art life meant being able to focus entirely on his art and put it above all other things.

“The art spirit sort of became the art life, and I had this idea that you drink coffee, you smoke cigarettes and you paint, and that’s it … Basically, it’s the incredible happiness of working and living that life,” he said.

“An artist's life is very selfish. But it's thrilling to create something, and you need a certain set up for the process to take place. You can’t have a lot of obligations.”

Lynch recognizes that for most of us trying to carve out a creative career, being free of all other obligations is almost impossible. While most of us dream about having all the time in the world to focus on our screenplay, it’s actually possible that all the other obligations in life are fueling creative work, not hindering it. At the end of the day, writers need something to write about. Everything you experience in life has the potential to spark a great story.

Julia Cameron is a writer and filmmaker. She wrote The Artist’s Way, Finding Water: The Art of Perserverance, and The Right to Write. Cameron says she believes writers can get too caught up in the idea that they don’t have enough time for their craft.

“The myth that we must have “time” — more time — in order to create, is a myth that keeps us from using the time we do have,” she said.

"The “if I had time” lie is a convenient way to ignore the fact that novels require being written and that writing happens a sentence at a time. Sentences can happen in a moment. Enough stolen moments, enough stolen sentences, and a novel is born — without the luxury of time.”

Cameron also says that too many of us think we need “permission” to call ourselves writers or artists, or we are too focused on the end goal and not the act of writing itself.

“If we are invested in a writing life — as opposed to a writing career — then we are in it for the process and not the product,” she said.

There are many different opinions about what the writer’s life actually entails; Writer’s Digest even printed a top ten list of how to live your writer’s life to its full potential. At the end of the day, whatever keeps you productive and engaged with your work is part of the writer’s life. Whether writing is your full-time job or something you do for a few minutes a day, you are living the writer’s life by making a commitment to getting words down whenever you can. Lynch has practiced transcendental meditation since he was in his 20s, and one of his favorite quotes of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the guru who brought transcendental meditation to the Western World, is, “even when you have a shallow dive, you still get wet.”

By carving out even a few minutes a day for writing, you keep yourself connected to the writer inside. So, what does your writer’s life look like?