How to Develop a Creative Writing Portfolio
A well-executed creative writing portfolio showcases your distinctive style and writing. It can help you land paying gigs (or just an "A" in Creative Writing 330). It's essential that you showcase your most fresh, error-free work in a way that's both polished and unique.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
How to Develop a Creative Writing Portfolio
-
1
Be choosy. Select the pieces that best present your unique voice and those pieces that are mechanically sound.
-
2
Provide options. By options, depending on how focused your writing is, be sure to provide examples of longer-format prose, longer manuscripts or excerpts of longer pieces, as well as poetry and the things that defy categorization, such as well-executed stream of consciousness or narratives. The key is to be diverse and creative, but not look like you're trying too hard to be groundbreaking.
-
-
3
Enlist help. Seek advice about your writings and writing selection from published authors who shoot from the hip.
-
4
Highlight published work. If you're going for a professional writing gig, showcase published pieces. but only if they're good and the mechanics are sound.
-
5
Create a compelling theme. Find something that binds your pieces and hearkens back to your writing style. Title your portfolio as such, and have any images you utilize throughout to echo that theme.
-
6
Establish a Table of Contents. This should list the start of each chapter, such as poetry, as well as the start of each specific work. Double-check that the pages are in correct order and that the start of each chapter and story jives with what is listed in the Table of Contents page.
-
7
Provide breaks or dividers between sections. These dividers can be simply blank pages between poetry and prose, or whatever category you choose. Better yet, if you're artistic, create a graphic or artwork that ties in with an overarching theme for your portfolio between your chapters.
-
8
Use a clean, crisp binder or portfolio. Presentation counts. Make sure the binder looks nice and all the pages are clean.
-
9
Check for any errors. Have another set of eyes review your portfolio for layout or publishing errors, grammar mistakes or typos. You may easily overlook these. You are a writer, so there really is no excuse for any errors in such an important series of documents.
-
10
Put your portfolio online. Create a portfolio easily and free of charge through Google Apps or Wordpress. For a small, monthly fee you can also get your own website and post your work there. Building your own portfolio online gives you the freedom to update it when and how you choose, while hiring a Web designer (though costly) can save you a lot of time and give you a unique look that sets you apart. Weigh your options.
-
1
