How to Organize a Portfolio of Writing Clips

Anyone in the field of writing or journalism knows how important a portfolio of writing samples can be to landing that next big writing job. The presentation of a portfolio of writing clips is the key to impressing editors. Organizing a portfolio of writing clips requires good judgment and professionalism.

Things You'll Need

• Writing samples
• Scissors
• Rubber cement or double-sided tape
• Cardstock
• Plastic page protectors
• Leather three-ring binder

Instructions

1. Choose your best writing samples to include in the portfolio. Also, choose a variety of types of writing--news articles, feature articles, press releases, brochures and more--to show your versatility as a writer. Use originals rather than photocopies when at all possible.

2. Carefully cut out articles from newspapers or magazines (or other writing samples) that are smaller that 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Use rubber cement glue or double-sided tape to attach these articles onto a piece of cardstock or other paper. You can do the same to writing samples that are standard paper size if you want, but it is not essential.

3. Make sure that the date and place of publication is clear on each writing sample. Make professional-looking ID tags for each if necessary.

4. Place each writing sample into a plastic page protector with three-ring binder holes on one side. It is best to get the non-glare type, but use whatever is available.

5. Bind the writing samples in a leather three-ring binder or other professional-looking book. You can buy these from any office supply store.

6. Make dividers for the portfolio if you have lots of different types of writing samples. Use Microsoft Word or Publisher to make them look professional and creative. Once you design dividers how you want, place them in page protectors as well. You may need to divide writings by publication, by situation or by style. Create dividers accordingly.

7. Organize the writing samples in the most logical way to meet your purpose. Group together by type of writing or publication (as mentioned above), or organize the writing samples chronologically by most recent to least recent. How you organize the portfolio may depend on how and when you will use the portfolio. For example, if you are interviewing for a job in public relations, you should put brochures, press releases and the like in the front, and news articles in the back.

Tips & Warnings

• Using page protectors and three-ring binders will give you a lot of versatility in presenting your portfolio. You can easily add or rearrange writing samples for any situation.

• Keep your portfolio up-to-date at all times. You never know when you might need to show it to someone.