—  About

Sara Little-Darby is a former English teacher with over a decade of experience and a passion for storytelling.

Thank you for checking out The Messy Essay. After over 10 years in the classroom, I decided to create a program that allows students personalized one on one attention while navigating the complicated process of writing college essays. 

During my time as an English teacher, I found that students (and parents!) were stressed and overwhelmed when it came to deciphering college essay prompts. Students complained that they didn't know how to answer the prompts "the right way," parents felt frustrated that their students wouldn't "just do it!" Being in a classroom of 35-38 students often didn't give me the time to meet with each student individually so I started meeting my students on the weekends, before and after school so that we would have the time, space and focus to find the THE story. I realized that when my students were given this opportunity, the ideas (and excitement about writing!) began to flow freely. At the end of the messy writing process, my students felt confident their essays were personal, real and most importantly, something they could be proud of. 

With a degree in Creative Writing from Pepperdine University and a Masters of Teaching from University of San Francisco, I am trained not only in the art of storytelling but the teaching of storytelling, too.

The Messy Essay doesn't write essays for students. The Messy Essay helps students to find the story they want to tell and teaches them how to tell it.  

General Inquiries

— How can The Messy Essay help you? Let me know a little about your needs and goals!