How to Make Your Writing Sound Human
10 small edits that give your words rhythm, breath, and punch
10X Writer #63
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Most writing sounds like a committee wrote it.
Formal. Flat. Forgettable.
Alive writing feels different.
It doesn’t just sit there. It moves.
It has rhythm. Breath. Pulse.
Because alive writing isn’t about perfection.
It’s about energy transfer — from you to the page, from the page to your reader.
You feel something → you write it → they feel it too.
That’s what makes words alive.
And you don’t need to rewrite everything to get there, just make a few surgical edits.
Here’s how.
1. Cut your sentence in half. Then cut it again.
Brevity is rhythm.
Take that meandering sentence. Chop it. Then chop it again. Every unnecessary word dulls the beat.
Long sentences aren’t the problem; it’s the filler hiding inside them.
Find it. Kill it.
Alive writing leaves room for breath.
2. Read it aloud. If you stumble, rewrite.
Your ear knows better than your eyes.
Your tongue doesn’t lie. If you trip over a phrase, your reader will too.
Reading aloud exposes awkward turns and clunky word choices your eyes overlook.
Trust the stumble. It’s your body catching what your mind missed.
3. Kill one “very” or “really.” Replace with a stronger word.
Precision beats padding.
“Very tired” becomes “exhausted.”
“Really good” becomes “exceptional.”
Intensifiers are crutches; they show hesitation, not conviction.
Strong words don’t shout. They mean.
4. Start a sentence with “And” or “But.” Break the rule. Feel the shift.
Rebellion creates movement.
Your English teacher was wrong.
Starting with “And” creates momentum. “But” signals a turn.
Rules exist to protect the timid.
Once you know them, you can break them on purpose.
And that’s when your writing starts breathing on its own.
5. Use a one-word paragraph. Just once. Watch it punch.
Silence amplifies sound.
Give one word its own line.
Power.
See? The white space around it makes it impossible to ignore.
It’s a pause. A spotlight.
A reminder that what’s unsaid is part of the rhythm too.
Halfway there. Notice something?
Every technique so far doesn’t just change how your reader reads your words, it changes how they feel them.
Alive writing isn’t mechanical.
It’s physical.
6. Replace a weak verb. “Is” becomes “pulses.” “Has” becomes “carries.”
Strong verbs drive the sentence forward.
Weak verbs sit there. Strong verbs move.
“The project is successful” becomes “The project crushed it.”
When in doubt, ask: what’s really happening here?
Then find the verb that captures it.
Because the verb is where energy lives.
7. Add a pause. Use an em-dash — like this. Let the sentence breathe.
Breath gives rhythm room.
The em-dash creates a beat.
A suspension. A micro-pause that lets meaning sink in.
More dramatic than a comma. Less final than a period.
It’s the mark of a writer who listens to their own rhythm.
8. Repeat a word on purpose. Repetition is rhythm. Rhythm is music.
Echo creates memory.
Say it once, they hear it.
Say it twice, they remember it.
Say it three times? They feel it.
Repetition isn’t redundancy, it’s resonance.
It’s the sound of a truth landing.
9. Ask a question. Pull the reader into a conversation.
Questions are invitations.
Ever notice how questions change the energy?
They make readers pause. Think. Engage.
A statement tells.
A question invites.
And invitation is how reading becomes dialogue.
10. Write like you’re texting a friend. Drop the formality. Sound human.
Authentic beats polished.
You wouldn’t text: “I am writing to inquire about your availability.”
You’d text: “You free Thursday?”
Write like that.
Then clean it up, just enough.
Keep the bones. Lose the stiffness.
Your reader doesn’t need perfection. They want presence.
Your turn:
Open your last draft.
Pick one technique. Apply it to three sentences. Notice what changes.
Because the best writing advice isn’t theoretical, it’s physical.
You feel it when it’s right.
Most writing sounds like a committee wrote it.
Yours doesn’t have to.
Make it sound alive, starting now.