When it comes to writing, there's always room for improvement. Even the most seasoned, veteran writers are constantly working to become better at their craft. While many people believe the only way to become a great writer is to pursue a degree, this isn't the only option. Here are a few resources to help you improve your writing on your own time.

Utilize online writing tools.

There are plenty of tools and software available online to help you streamline the writing process. Whether you need help with a school assignment or are having trouble formatting to get the right page length for a blog post, you can find free word processors online to streamline your writing and editing process and give you the analytics for your writing piece.

For college essays, some professors have requirements for both word count and number of pages for the assignment. College writing assignments tend to usually have word count requirements in the thousands. So how many pages is 2000 words? The Word Counter's web page can answer this question for you. The Word Counter is an online word processing software with built-in grammar checking. The software gives you a traditional word count along with the number of characters, sentences, paragraphs, and pages. It can also help you optimize your posts for social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, as well as search engines.

Their software analyzes your writing and can determine keywords, reading level, reading time, and speaking time for a piece of text. The more insights you can gain for your writings, the more analytical you can become with your future writings. The Word Counter's web page is filled with many other excellent writing resources. They have a word unscrambling and word generating software, and their FAQ and blog posts contain useful, niche information for emerging writers.

Try to read every day.

You yourself can start to become a great writer by consistently reading great writers. A great way to motivate yourself to read more is by buying an eBook reader. You can often find web pages that offer cheap eBooks, and many public libraries have apps for mobile devices and tablets for renting eBooks and audiobooks.

The Store has refurbished eReaders in great condition for a great deal. All of the eReaders and mobile devices on their web site come with an in-depth product description, wi-fi connectivity, and all at a better price than you'll find at other retailers such as Walmart or Barnes and Noble. The Store also offers buyer protection on any refurbished e-Reader you may choose. This includes free shipping, free returns, and a warranty. All of their refurbished items come with a minimum one-year warranty, meaning if any part of your product stops working during this time The Store will fix the issue, refund you for the product, or ship you an entirely new refurbished e-Reader.

Attend online writing courses.

Rather than spending thousands of dollars attending a university, you can find thousands of free writing courses to help you hone your skills and learn new techniques. HubSpot offers a free online writing course taught by best selling author Daniel Pink. All you need to sign-up for the course is your name and email address, and then you will have access to all the lessons, videos, and quizzes for free.

This specific writing course covers outlining, writing, editing, and researching. Whether you're a college student writing a research paper, a journalist making a blog post, or an aspiring author looking to improve their skills, this course can help you.

Don't edit while you're writing.

If you're wondering why you should wait to edit your writing, just know that you should always do what works for you. It's very common advice to wait until you're finished with a piece of writing to start editing, but this technique isn't universally successful. The broadness of this statement doesn't consider any specifics.

The best thing to remember about this technique is its intent: write until you get your complete thought out. Rather than finishing your writing completely, which may force you to write even if you're facing a block, you should write until you've articulated your thoughts fully. Whether this is just a paragraph or a few pages, don't be discouraged. Setting stopping points in terms of the number of words written in one sitting isn't always the most efficient way to write. Even editing paragraph by paragraph may work better for you than meeting given word count yields.

Write down all of your ideas.

If you've tried creative writing in the past, you know how quickly inspiration can come and go. Instead of trying to force yourself to brainstorm or write during a time where you're not feeling creative, try to make the most of even the smallest moments of inspiration. One trick that many writers use is keeping a small notebook or journal with you at all times. Even if it's just a sentence or paragraph—or maybe even just a single word—be sure to write down anything significant. That way when a thought or idea for your writing comes to you, you can preserve it and work with it later.