The voice you use with your best friend at 2 a.m. is probably your real one. Use it more.

Late and tired, with somebody who already knows you, the performance drops. No editing for effect, no managing how you come across, just the actual rhythm of how you think. That voice is usually funnier and more direct than the one you use in daylight. It is also the one worth writing in and bringing into more rooms.

Notice the difference this week between how you talk at two in the morning and how you talk at two in the afternoon. Then move one thing across: write an essay in that voice, or say the direct version of something you would normally soften.