Last week I wrote an article about Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Writer’s Block. (Because we—writers—can beat it). Now that you hopefully understand your personal Block a little better, it is time to find specific ways to emerge from the uninspired slump and get back in the creative game.

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way:

You must write.

The rest of these tips revolve around that base truth, so make sure you record yourself saying it, put it on your iPod and listen to it through the night. If it sticks, you’re all set. Below are some ideas to put your writing brain back in action—if you think of more, feel free to add to the list. And if one doesn’t work for you, then move on and try the next. Discipline is key.

1. Daily writing prompts

Last year I discovered something fun and new: writing prompts. Pinterest provides a number of month-long writing prompts; here’s an example. The first time I committed to a prompt challenge, I wrote about characters and a universeI had already established. It was an excellent world-building exercise that helped me (and readers) better understand my fantasy novels. In addition, it was practically no-pressure. Prompt challenges have no word count minimum or maximum—you only need to write something every day.

During my second round of prompts, I wrote about new science-fiction worlds I wanted to develop. The challenge gave me 31 flash-fiction projects which I am already editing and looking to send to prospective publishers. I simultaneously kept up my daily writing discipline, had fun and prepared content for future use.

This month, I am trying something new. I am following a prompt list and using the same characters for each prompt, developing their story as I go. It is like writing a novel, except I never know what the characters face each day, or how I will fit their situation to the prompt. It is a massively entertaining challenge, and since there is a schedule to follow, it is a whole lot easier than a self-paced one.

2. Editing and revision

Admission: I disliked editing and revising until about two years ago. Once I decided to completely revamp one of my novels, however, I discovered I am head-over-heels for the editing process, and I have since done several revision-based NaNoWriMo challenges.

The advantage to this approach is that, like writing prompts, it serves multiple purposes. It provides variety from just free-writing, and it also gives you the opportunity to fine-tune your own work and prepare it for reader review. If you haven’t tried rewriting a piece, I suggest starting with that. If you have Windows 8 or 10, you can use the split-screen function to keep one document on one half of the screen, and the new, rewritten version on the other.

Now if you’re like me and can’t get anything done without a deadline, you could try doing a revision challenge for NaNoWriMo. There are multiple ways to keep track of word counts. My preferred method is the ‘one hour = one thousand words’ approach. Last July, I spent 93 hours total revising two separate books. I plan to send both to publishers once I get more reader feedback.

3. Create character profiles

There are thousands of different character development questionnaires and profiles across the web. DeviantArt, Pinterest and Google searches are easy ways to find some good ones. Character profiles are a way of compiling relevant information in one place (so you don’t have to scroll up eighty pages to find that one character’s eye color, for instance) and developing your characters’ quirks or habits.

These can be great fun. I have kept the same template for years, and it includes things like the characters’ birth place, their pets, their most/least favorite foods and even their theme songs. I divide them up into folders based on books so I can easily access them at any given time while in the throes of writing.

4. Read

Here I deviate from my ‘you must write’ rule. Every good writer will say it: if you want to be a good writer, you must be an active reader. There is no other way to expand your vocabulary, experience new storytelling methods or inspire your muse than to read as many books as you can. Published authors are published for a reason. Even if you don’t enjoy a particular genre or author, you would do well to study their writing style and see what makes others want to read their work.

This goes beyond books. My writing friends and I enjoy a wide variety of movies, animes/mangas and comics. Absorbing stories through these media is an excellent motivator. Be aware, however, of the difference between entertainment and active study. You can watch a movie or show to relax (nothing wrong with that, am I right?) But if you watch a movie and pay attention to the tension build or the dialogue, you are collecting helpful information you can later apply to your own writing.

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Hopefully these will help spur you to write more this year, and write a broader selection of content. You can mix, match and morph these suggestions to your tailored needs, and share them with other writers in your group for some friendly competition and community support. Remember that Writer’s Block is by no means the end-all to your writing career, even if you’ve had it for a long time. There are always new prompts to write, old books to edit, more characters to profile and a million books to read. If any one of them can revive your creativity, then you have successfully defeated the Block.