When I used to tutor friends in writing, I'd often read a convoluted, non-grammatical, "academic" sentence and ask, "What do you mean?" and, when they would giv

When I used to tutor friends in writing, I'd often read a convoluted, non-grammatical, "academic" sentence and ask, "What do you mean?" and, when they would give me a simple answer, I'd say, "Write that down!" Aiming for a writing style that sounds as clear as speech is a good practice for beginners, and if you can pull it off you're way ahead of most others. A great way to achieve this yourself is to take your first draft (or current paragraph, or whatever) and read it out loud. Don't fake it under your breath. Stand up, go somewhere private, and really read it out loud. If it sounds horrible, rewrite it. This "as clear as speech" goal is basically the style Strunk & White are training people for. Once you've mastered it, you can decide whether you want to go for more (e.g. Faulkner-like, Derrida-like, "casual," etc. Also check out the "spoken++" advocated by _Clear and Simple as the Truth_. You could even read Joyce's Ulysses for a parody of all kinds of writing styles.). But start with just making your writing communicate as well as your speech does.