You’re allowed
to sound like you.

You don’t need to squeeze your entire life into an essay. You don’t need a defining tragedy, an improbable triumph, or a metaphor that comes back at the end wearing a little hat.

You need a way in. We can help you find one.

Something has. It just may not look like an essay topic yet. A job you know too well. A family habit you find baffling. An argument you’re still having in your head. The thing you can talk about for twenty minutes without checking your phone.

We start by talking. You don’t have to know which story matters before you tell it. Listening for that is part of our job.

You don’t have to be funny, profound, or unusually well-adjusted. You just have to be yourself. That’s what colleges want to see, a real person on the page.

Our coaching is meant to help you notice more, and how to tell a story with what you notice. We aren’t here to put words in your mouth or steer you toward a story we’ve already decided you should tell.

It can be awkward. It can go on too long. The best sentence might be the one you almost deleted. We read what you bring, talk about what’s working, and help you decide what to try next.

We’ll help you use the tools of fiction—scene, dialogue, detail—to tell a story that’s true. You write every word. We work beside you through the decisions that make those words worth reading.