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The rule, in three lines
The same idea has three levels: a message to a friend (¿te va bien a las 8?), an email to somebody you do not know (¿le vendría bien a las 8?) and a written report (se propone celebrar la reunión a las 8). And there are markers that give each level away: vale, o sea, en fin, un montón on one side; le agradecería, no obstante, cabe señalar on the other.
The usual slip. Writing everything at one flat level: a job application with un montón in it, or a message to a friend that reads like a legal notice.
Why it catches you out. You already do this in English without thinking, which is exactly the problem: the markers do not transfer, so your Spanish sits at one level while your English moves freely. And the register words are precisely the ones textbooks skip.