How good are you at adapting your level of formality to your reader, subject, and occasion? For practice, divide the following sentences into one of three levels: overly formal, middle range, and too informal.
1. Subsequent to a tumultuous storm featuring thunder and lightning, the Minnehaha Creek brimmed over its banks and the Minnehaha Falls resonated with a reverberating roar.
2. The terrace around Sea Salt Eatery was thronged with pedestrians and bikers watching the mist rise from the falls.
3. Everyone was gaga over what was going down.
4. The scene was like way cool, I mean, like totally random.
5. On the steep hillside beneath the ledge and behind the cascading water sat four thrill-seeking teenagers.
6. Until such time as the luminescence of the setting summer sun was at last extinguished from the western sky, people remained stationary, a community amalgamated by their adoration of the beauty that emanates from nature.
To my ear, sentences 2 and 5 are in the middle range, sentences 1 and 6 are overly formal, and sentences 3 and 4 are too informal.