Let me tell you about the day I realized I sounded like a walking Oxford dictionary (yep, I wrote using hard words).

I was at my usual spot, feeling proud of my well-written article, and called my little sister to come and read it.

Her response? “What language is this, Polycarp? I can’t even understand what you’ve written!”

Ouch.

You know that feeling when you’re trying to sound smart in class, and instead of saying, “The dog ate my homework,” you say “The animal devoured my study notes”?

Yeah, that was me—with everything I wrote.

It was a very big mistake.

Here’s what my writing used to sound like: “I endeavor to communicate effectively through sophisticated language choices…”

(Are you asleep yet? Because I almost dozed off writing that.)

Here’s me now: “Hey, let me tell you what happened…”

The funny thing?

As soon as I started writing like a normal human being:

People actually read my stuff.

They didn’t need Google Translate to understand me.

Some even said, “Hey, this is pretty good!”

Want to know my simple trick?

I pretend I’m texting my best friend about something wild that just happened.

Think about it—when’s the last time you used “furthermore” in a text to your best friend?

Never, right? Because that would be weird!

Bottom line: Write like you talk. Your readers (and your sanity) will thank you.