How to Create a Writing Samples Portfolio

When you begin a career as a writer, it will become necessary to have a professional portfolio of your work to display to potential employers or clients. If you majored in a writing field in college, such as journalism, chances are you created a "clip book" in school. That may help you land your first job out of college, but eventually, you will want to create a more polished, professional portfolio.

Things You'll Need

• Purchased URL
• Plain portfolio book
• Writing clips

Instructions

Create a Web Presence

1. Purchase a URL from a web host, such as GoDaddy (see Resources below). An owned URL looks more professional and will help increase your professional viability. You can use this URL on either a regular website or a blog.

2. Scan your clips into JPEG or PDF form. Make sure that you clip any rough edges from newspaper clippings, remove staples from newsletters and any paper clips that might be holding sheets together before scanning.

3. Upload the samples to your web page or blog. You can group them either by date (newest first) or by type (such as newspaper article, newsletter article, press release).

4. Create another tab or a separate section for web-published articles and place clip links under this section. As with the printed clips, you can sort them either by date or by clip type.

5. Add captions to your articles that contain the title, the date you wrote the article and where it was published.

Create a Hardcopy Portfolio

1. Purchase a plain, professional-looking portfolio book with a solid cover. Usually, this is a hardcover or leather-bound book.

2. Lightly glue clips into the book if it contains paper inserts. Be sure to make plenty of copies of your clips before you glue them into the book so that you have enough for future use.

3. Slide clips into plastic inserts if the book contains plastic sleeves. If the clip is smaller than the plastic insert, it may be helpful to place a small drop of glue in the center of the clip to glue it lightly into the insert. If you have to remove it in the future, it should unstick fairly easily, as long as you use just a minimal amount of glue. If the clip is too large for the plastic sheet, fold it neatly, with the headline and date, making the first paragraph visible.

4. Create captions for your articles and place them either under the article (for paper pages) or at the bottom of the plastic-sleeve inserts.

Tips & Warnings

• If you prefer, you may use a professional scrapbooker or graphic designer to help you create your book. Simply instruct whoever you hire to keep embellishments to a minimum, and keep it professional looking.

• Never use acid-based glue, as it will damage the paper over time.

Resources

• GoDaddy