Some ideas on how to make better black and white photos:

1. Eyes

Eyes are the windows to the soul. Try to shoot macro photos of eyes, and try to get a good contrast between the white of the eyes and the black.

2. Sunset

You cannot fake the light. Try shooting more during sunset in black-and-white, for more epic black-and-white photos.

3. Embrace blur and imperfection

I love black and white photos which are either blurry, out of focus, or distorted. Why? It makes the photos more abstract and beautiful.

4. Shoot JPEG

Use the high contrast black and white JPEG in camera setting, and in order to improve your monochrome photos, focus on exposure compensation and composition.