What are your views on writing like you speak?

Question

I'm a long time reader of Mr. Graham and other essayists like Mr. Welch of stilldrinking.org, they are writers that I very much like reading, and they also tend to write in a very conversational manner- PG even has an essay titled "Write Like You Talk" [1].When I reflect on the various technical books I've read over my life, I realize that the ones that I am able to get through most easily and pick up the ideas within with the least amount of friction are those written in a more colloquial manner. In fact, I often find pieces of writing that are devoid of any kind of 'voice' impenetrable, especially if their subject matter in nontrivial.However, through all my years from childhood through college nearly every single teacher/professor I've had has wagged a finger saying "do not write like you speak" at some point. This seems to be the norm, as my younger sibling just told me about similar experiences.I fail to see the value in intentionally writing in a way that is completely different from how you speak.Does anyone here have opposite experiences, do more colloquial styles make things too obscure or hard/annoying to follow?---[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/talk.html

dexwiz · Accepted Answer

I think it's important to differentiate Conversational and Stream of Consciousness tones. Most people speak as they think of ideas which falls under Stream of Consciousness. If you write that way, you will end up with an unorganized mess full of filler words and phrases. The professors who say don't write conversationally are actually warning you not to fill your writing with the nonsense that permeates normal speech.
Paul Graham mentions taking physically awkward bits and making them sound conversational. That is the trick. Don't start with stream of consciousness and call it conversational. Start with normal writing and make it flow like a conversation.
Writing conversationally is a bit like writing dialogue. The trick it to taken written word and make it sound natural. Unfortunately it's a very unnatural act to do this well, and you will notice they do differ in subtle ways. For example, no one says goodbye or asks for change in dialogue.