Writers are expected to be among the most creative people in the world. This places a significant amount of pressure on any type of writer to chase after perfection every time he puts pen to paper. There are some times when a writer is in a great mood for writing but sometimes not so much. The following are some easy tips that writers can use to improve their writing.

1. Write morning pages

Every morning when you wake up, you should hand write three notebook pages of anything that comes to your mind. This morning ‘data dump’ will clear your mind and enable you to think creatively and without distractions. By doing this every morning, you train your mind to prepare to write. Regardless of the name, morning pages can be written any time of the day. The important thing is to make it a regular thing.

2. Do timed brainstorming exercises

Taking the example of a blogger, the blogger should write down all the ideas for blog posts that come to mind in a period of five minutes. Don’t be afraid to write down the most outlandish ideas. Don’t even take time to fully develop ideas but write them as they come. These exercises might seem pointless but the ideas can be invaluable when you feel creatively challenged. By referring to such lists you can find many ideas for your writing.

3. Capture snippets of conversations to get ideas about what to write

Snippets of conversations can be collected from anywhere as long as you are listening to two or more people talking. When you are at an airport, for example, you hear conversations like “…ever since the direct flights to (any city name) were discontinued, you have to spend at least two more hours on connecting flights.” These snippets can be recorded on your journal and be used later during your writing.

4. Generate character descriptions, back stories, and even scenes of books from what you see

When writing a story, an author usually has to create many scenes and characters. Authors, especially those who write fiction, have to create many characters and sometimes they might run short of ideas. At this point authors can borrow certain character traits from people they have observed in real life. They can go as far as borrowing entire scenes from their observations in their day to day lives.

5. Expand your vocabulary

Languages are constantly changing and new words are being created each day (not that we already know all the existing ones). An author should always be eager to add new words to his vocabulary. This is because word choice is very important, regardless of the type of writing. An author should take every opportunity to learn new words. A good example is to install a smartphone app with a ‘word of the day’ feature.

6. Rewrite scenes from favorite novels or blog posts

All authors should learn the art of adapting other peoples’ works to improve their own abilities. For instance, Benjamin Franklin studied and rewrote works from the best writers at the time to improve his literary skills.