You’ve chased your plot bunny straight down the rabbit hole and now you’re wedged in there with no place to go. The narrative was so crisp in your mind when you hammered out that first 3,000 words. But now–maybe 10,000 words in–the words aren’t flowing as quickly. It’s been days without a new scene. You’ve edited and poked and prodded but the word count is decreasing instead increasing.

You lean back in your chair and think of what is supposed to happen between the action-packed opening and emotionally-explosive ending you crafted out already. Then you pull out your outline, plot graph, beat sheet, and post-it notes. You see the arc, but can’t place the words to it.

You, my friend, have just entered into Writer’s Block. Lots of things can cause this: anxiety, stress, imposter syndrome, family, day job burnout.

To overcome your mental block, you have to separate out your feelings from the work itself.

As someone who must write in her day job and as an author, here are my tips for breaking through writer’s block:

1. Stop thinking of your manuscript as a hobby

Get your butt into a chair, open that word document, and type. You’ll discover the act of opening the document and kickstarting your brain into action will quell stress-based writer’s block. You’re doing it because you must. This is what you do when you’re on a deadline at work, so apply that mentality to your writing as well. The work has to get done, even if it’s one sentence every ten minutes. The. Work. Gets. Done.

2. Work up a mental and physical sweat

You’ll find this common in my advice for most writing-related activities. Sometimes I find that my creativity cuts off when I have too much going on in my own head. I want to chase all the plot bunnies, but I also want to think about work emails. I need to clean the entire house, but am too focused on how I’m preparing for a big meeting next week. For this kind of writer’s block, the “I’m too mentally worked up to think clearly” type, find something that gives you a mental and/or physical workout. Do a puzzle. Run a mile. Whatever it is, let that take up so much space in your mind that you won’t be able to thought-jump.

In terms of plot bunny distractions, write down your notes and tell yourself that you’ll get to it soon enough. You can only do what you’re able to, so something has to wait.

3. Read someone else’s work

I know, I know. Lots of writers say it’s hard to draft your own work while being immersed in someone else’s. I used to say this too! “There’s only so much space in my head…”

BUT, taking a step back from your own work allows you to give yourself a refresher on narrative structure, pacing, and language. It’ll connect dots in your mind while you also do something you enjoy.

Reading was your first step to becoming a writer. Something in those books let you escape, inspired you, or let you live a dream you couldn’t in your daily life. Find that again! It was that initial spark that led you here. If you’re feeling burn-out, this is a great tactic to reset your frame of mind and let someone else take you on a journey.

There’s no proven method for overcoming writer’s block. It might be one of my tactics, it might be all three tactics combined. It might be something I’ve never heard of. The important thing is that you don’t give up!