Paul Graham’s simple but wise advice for writers is to write like you talk:

Here's a simple trick for getting more people to read what you write: write in spoken language.

Something comes over most people when they start writing. They write in a different language than they'd use if they were talking to a friend. The sentence structure and even the words are different. No one uses "pen" as a verb in spoken English. You'd feel like an idiot using "pen" instead of "write" in a conversation with a friend.

Paul’s essay archive is also worth a look.

(Via Josh Ginter)