How to Make a Portfolio for Writers

Include your best writing in a portfolio.

A portfolio is an opportunity to showcase a writer's best work and demonstrate his or her writing abilities. It shows that you can be taken seriously as a writer. During a job interview, a writer can use his or her portfolio to back up writing experiences discussed during the meeting, or expressed in a resume.

Things You'll Need

• Writing samples
• 3-ring binder
• Index page dividers

Instructions

1. Create a title page that includes your name and contact information. It's best to use the same contact information you use on your resume, such as phone number, street address and email address. Use this page as the first one in the binder, or insert it into the plastic pocket on the front of your binder, if it has one.

2. Decide what writing samples to include in the portfolio. Showcase your skills by selecting your best writing. Quality is more important than quantity; therefore, you can have a portfolio with as few as three writing samples. Although there is no set maximum for the number of writing samples you can include, do not overwhelm the person reviewing your portfolio. Use your best judgment based on the length of each sample and how many writing categories you are including.

3. Divide your writing samples into categories, such as technical writing, feature writing and journalistic writing. If you do not have much, or any, professional experience, use classroom writing samples.

4. Create a table of contents and place it in the binder after your title page. If your title page was placed on the binder's cover in step 1, the table of contents will be the first page in the binder. Use your categories as sections, and then list the title and date of each writing sample. Label page dividers with your categories to separate the different sections of the binder.

5. Categorize your writing samples by choosing which are most important. For example, if you are applying for a job at a newspaper, place your journalistic writing first. If the job requires technical writing experience, put those samples first. Within each category, place your writing samples chronologically with the newest ones first.

6. Place your writing samples and dividers in the binder and make sure their order matches the table of contents.

References

• Scholastic; "Build Your Portfolio"; Jan. 1, 1999
• University of New Mexico; Department of English Language & Literature; "The Writer's Portfolio"; 2004