Read. A writer's best weapon is reading other material. Through reading you can pick up varying ways to plot, setup scenes, develop characters, and gain knowledge. Historical novels are often well-researched by the authors and any detractment from historical fact are often noted by the author at the beginning or end of the book. Science fiction can often have basis in fact or scientific theory.
Through reading you learn knew words. Don't feel dumb guessing the definition of a word that you don't know when you read. Look it up in the dictionary or encyclopedia! If you don't have a hard copy of these items, dictionary.com is a great source!
Besides, reading is a great relaxation technique and inspiration for those creative juices!