What happened to my English?

I don't know if anyone noticed this, but I feel my English has been going on a long slippery slope downwards ever since I started training for the IELTS last year. I used to speak and write comfortably but now each phrase and each sentence feels SO stilted and unnatural. I feel as though my English has been methodically dismembered. I wonder why.

And I wonder if I'm fretting over nothing anyway, because apparently nobody I know has commented on this before.

However, I am quite positive that IELTS preparation is NOT a great way to hone language skills. Because, after a few months of keeping in mind how you need to "use a range of structures" and demonstrate your "lexical resource" and maintain coherence, you start to forget how language just leapt to the tip your tougue and flowed from the nib of your pen. I believe that language is intuitive and cannot be honed with analytical methods. As a quote of unknown source from The Elements of Style said, "writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar".

I remember this book Blink which brought up topics about rapid, subconscious cognition, and how trying to clarify intuitions can actually destroy one's ability to think intuitively based on experience. Maybe my current situation is another example of this.

Hope it will get better. Especially with the return of my great book The Elements of Style. I agree with Stephen King that it's the best writing guide available. Not because all the advice it gives is right-- I disgaree with some parts of it-- but because that little book is like a constant reminder, a clarion call for clarity in writing. I'm sorry I can't photocopy it for anyone (especially Zhaf, sorry I know you asked for it last year), because the binding looks very fragile; however free copies of it are available on the net. Go take a look!