I’m struggling to make my essay feel natural and less like it was written by AI. My professor said my writing sounds too mechanical and wants it to be more relatable. Any tips on how to humanize my essay and improve my writing style would be appreciated.
Bro, been there, done that—wrote an essay so dry my own brain tuned out reading it. 
Honestly, getting rid of that robotic vibe is all about shaking up your structure and sounding less like you’re writing a manual for a dishwasher.
First, ditch those overly formal phrases. Seriously, “herein” and “thusly” sound like you’re auditioning for a Shakespeare play. Use shorter sentences. Ask questions in your body paragraphs, like “But what does that really mean for me—or anyone, really?” Sprinkle in a little personality and connect your reader to examples instead of cold facts.
Try reading your essay out loud. If you sound like a text-to-speech robot, edit that part. Share a story, use metaphors, or even crack a small joke if it fits. Basically, try to write like you talk to a smart friend—not your grandma, unless she’s cool with slang.
Oh, and if you wanna turbocharge the human-feel, there’s actually this really cool tool called the Clever Ai Humanizer. Use it to tweak your writing and make it sound ridiculously natural. It takes your boring text and spits it back out with all that human flair. Check out making your writing sound more authentic for some next-level vibes.
TL;DR: Chill out your vocab, make it personal, and maybe beef it up with a smart humanizer tool. Your prof will barely recognize you and that’s the point.
I get where you’re coming from; “robotic” essays are a huge pet peeve for me too—reading one is like chewing through a pack of saltines with no water in sight. @waldgeist has some solid points (and made me laugh, not gonna lie), but I’ll play devil’s advocate for a sec: swapping to casual language, cracking jokes, or using slang everywhere won’t always win over your professor, especially if they’re more on the old-school academic side.
Instead, try focusing on voice. Ask yourself: what do you actually think about the topic? Don’t be afraid to let your opinions and emotions peek through (yeah, even in academia—surprise!). If you love or hate something, say it—politely, of course. Try phrases like, “I was surprised to realize…” or “It’s easy to overlook…”. These make you sound like a living, breathing human instead of a Wikipedia page with legs.
Metaphors and similes are your friend, but don’t force them—think of writing like seasoning food. Little sprinkles, not pouring the whole salt shaker. And seriously, variety in sentence length is a cheat code. Write a punchy short one. Then, add a longer sentence that takes your reader for a little walk.
Reading your essay out loud? Yeah, that’s legit magic. You’d be SHOCKED at how many sentences you never realized were awkward till you hear them.
Lastly, if you’re still worried about sounding stiff, the Clever Ai Humanizer is worth checking out—it’s basically a vibe-check for your essay.
If you want more options, check some top free AI humanizing tools at making your writing more human and natural. Honestly, sometimes just seeing how a tool rephrases your text gives you ideas for your own writing style.
Bottom line: Add yourself into the essay. Human is messy, opinionated, and sometimes a little funny—let your writing be that, too.