Create a Job-Winning Writing Portfolio in 6 Steps
A writing portfolio is one of the main tools of a professional writer. Whether you’re only starting your career or have years of experience working in the industry, having a solid portfolio is a must. It demonstrates your skills and helps to attract potential employers. But how to create a good writing portfolio? Here is a quick guide on where to begin and how to showcase your writing talent.
What Does a Strong Writing Portfolio Include?
A writing portfolio is a way to show off your skills. It should contain samples of your work that are specific to the type of writing and genre you specialize in. Professional writers from EssayService, a custom writing service where students can buy essay online cheap, determined several characteristics of a high-end writing portfolio. Here are key things to include:
- Diverse samples of your writing;
- Your brief biography;
- Your specialty and writing niche;
- Testimonials from clients;
- Professional and easy-to-navigate layout;
- Contact information.
Steps to Creating a Writing Portfolio
Treat building your writing portfolio as a project. Here is a step-by-step guide to follow:
Look Through All Your Writing Samples
People are more likely to hire you if you show them specific samples of your work. But not all things you’ve ever written need to be in your portfolio. Include only the best and most relevant pieces.
Naturally, if you’ve been working as a writer for some time, you have a good selection of pieces. Choose your best works that correspond to the genre or field you want to specialize in.
However, beginners with no prior experience rarely have many samples to showcase. If that’s your case, here are a few strategies to build content for your portfolio:
- Did you write an article for your school newspaper or have a few good pieces from your creative writing class? Looking through those is a decent starting point.
- Begin a personal writing project, focusing on the type of writing and field you’re interested in.
- Try guest posting to start out as an independent writer and find networking opportunities.
- Reach out to non-profits. You can help their cause by providing writing services and create content for your portfolio.
If you’re only starting out, use every opportunity to grow your writing skills. As a student, you can talk to professional writers and ask them to write an essay. A delivered draft is a good learning resource. You can analyze the techniques that the author used as well as their structural and stylistic choices. If you don’t know any good writing services, you can check this WritePaper review for a start.
Decide Where to Host Your Portfolio
Luckily, today you don’t need to carry a folder with your printed works. An online writing portfolio is much easier to use both for you and your potential clients.
You can create your website even with no or very limited coding and web design skills. Platforms like WordPress have hundreds of ready-to-use templates. There are also websites with tools for creating online writing portfolios like:
- Clippings;
- Contently;
- Journo Portfolio;
- Medium.
You should also get your personal domain. It gives you a personalized URL that immediately presents you as a professional when you put it on your business card.
Organize Content and Layout
Help your potential clients easily browse your portfolio by creating multiple pages for different samples, writing clear titles, and keeping a consistent structure. When organizing content in your portfolio, divide your works by categories. These could be subjects or types of writing they belong to.
Diversity is important, but the layout of your website shouldn’t look busy. It’s better to introduce samples by titles, images, and short leads. It will improve navigation for your portfolio visitors and help them find examples of content they are interested in.
Remember to prioritize quality over quantity. Your client won’t read dozens of your similar samples. Include only your best work that is the most representative of your skills and writing services. Usually, it’s enough to have 6-10 examples.
Create a Simple and Professional Design
The appearance of your portfolio matters. It should look professional and make the right impression about you and the type of writing services you provide. The writing portfolio of a travel writer will look completely different from that of a technical writer. Make sure you choose an appropriate color scheme and visuals to match the topics you cover. A winning strategy is to go for a minimalistic and cohesive design.
Include Your Biography
Your potential clients want to know more about you and your background. Keep your bio short and relevant. It should include:
- Your education;
- Professional background;
- Writing credentials and awards;
- Your most prominent works;
- Subjects you specialize in.
You may also include your photo to make your portfolio more personal and connect with your website visitors.
Regularly Revisit Your Portfolio
As you progress through your career as a writer, your skills evolve, and you get more good samples to add to your portfolio. So make a habit to update it every few months. You can add new subjects and specializations and thus expand your scope and find more diverse projects.
Final Thoughts
Creating a good writing portfolio is an opportunity to advance your career and find new inspiring opportunities. It should communicate a clear message and showcase the value that you can bring to your potential client. It might seem like a confusing task at first, but if you stay organized and follow the process step by step, your writing career will blossom in no time!