The perfect professional writing portfolio is a combination of three things; samples of your work, an organized introduction, and a strong call to action.
Samples of your work are a must, but they don’t have to be long stories. Take a look at some of the top-tier authors who have written short stories that are just as effective as their longer works:
- Elmore Leonard
- Ray Bradbury
- Isaac Asimov
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Herman Wouk
- William S. Burroughs
- Kate Wilhelm
- John Grisham
- Harold Robbins
- Anthony Trollope
- Carol Ryrie Bransford
- Carrie Allen
- Colby Colburne
If you’re looking to create a professional writing portfolio, start by finding a short story that you’re particularly proud of. It could be a piece of new work that you’ve just completed or an edit that raised your game. Whatever the case, find a way to showcase this story to your advantage.
The second crucial element to include in your writing portfolio is an organized introduction. The purpose of this part of your portfolio is to introduce the reader to your work. You could include a brief bio about yourself or a short excerpt from one of your novels. The key is to keep it interesting and relevant to your work. For instance, if you’re an English major with a passion for Sherlock Holmes, you could include an excerpt from one of his cases. Or if your novel is set in the 18th century, you could include something about George II’s Great Britain or The Jacobite Rising.
The last element that you need for your perfect writing portfolio is a strong call to action. This is particularly relevant for non-fiction pieces, but it’s also important for science fiction and fantasy. The key is to engage the reader and make them want more. You could include a solicitation for readers or an offer of free advice for aspiring writers. You also could propose an event or a book signing. The possibilities for drawing in new audiences are endless.
Why Should You Create a Professional Writing Portfolio?
Organizing a writing portfolio is a good idea. The advantages of having a nicely formatted document that contains your best work is undeniable. But beyond the practical benefits, there are many reasons why you should consider creating a professional writing portfolio.
The first and most obvious benefit of creating a portfolio is that it provides you with a central location for all of your work. Having a neatly organized file cabinet or shelf of some kind is essential for any writer. It makes keeping track of your work easy and helps you find specific pieces when you need them. If you’ve ever worked in journalism, you know that being able to track down a specific source for an article is very difficult when you don’t have a good system in place.
In addition to helping you keep track of your work, creating a portfolio provides you with a record of your achievements. It’s always a useful thing to be able to look back on the work that you’ve done and be proud of your accomplishments. The more formal your system, the better, so that you can keep track of your progress over time. And since your work is your life, why not keep a record of it all? An actual portfolio makes it easy to show colleagues and potential employers your work ethic and the progress that you’ve made.
How Long Should Your Writing Portfolio Be?
While you don’t need to include everything that you’ve ever written in your portfolio, it’s a good idea to keep it somewhere between three and six months. Why? Well, it takes that long for a professionally written piece of fiction to be accepted by a magazine or newspaper. And until then, you’re only showing your work to friends and family. So, it’s a good idea to save your articles and short stories for that long.
If you’ve been writing for a bit of a break, it can be difficult to sit down and commit to writing a novel without any previous publication credits. Publishing a novel is a different ballgame to writing one. You need to learn how to query agents and publishers to see if they’ll represent you and your work. And, if you’re lucky enough to land a contract, you’ll need to learn how to manage your expectations. It can be a lengthy process that doesn’t always lead to happy endings.
Where Should You Keep Your Writing Portfolio?
You can keep your portfolio in a number of places. The most suitable location for a writer’s portfolio is their home, as it provides easy access to the articles and short stories that you’ll include in the document. If you work remotely, you can keep your portfolio in a shared drive that can be accessed via the internet. Or, you can create a physical copy and keep it in a file cabinet or shelf somewhere in your office.
No matter where you keep your writing portfolio, make sure that it’s somewhere that you can get access to easily. If you do decide to work remotely, you can keep a physical copy in a central location and access it via the internet. And, if you decide to include a copy in your house, make sure that it’s somewhere where you and your family can enjoy it. A home office is a great place for a writer to work, but it’s also a place where families and friends come to visit. So, you don’t want to keep your writing portfolio in a location that’s going to be off limits to anyone else. Especially important if you’re sharing a workspace with coworkers.
What Should You Include In Your Writing Portfolio?
As we’ve established, the perfect writing portfolio is a combination of three things; samples of your work, an organized introduction, and a strong call to action. Let’s look at each element in turn.
Samples of your work are a must, but they don’t have to be long stories. Take a look at some of the top-tier authors who have written short stories that are just as effective as their longer works:
- Elmore Leonard
- Ray Bradbury
- Isaac Asimov
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Edgar Allan Poe
- Herman Wouk
- William S. Burroughs
- Kate Wilhelm
- John Grisham
- Harold Robbins
- Anthony Trollope
- Carol Ryrie Bransford
- Carrie Allen
- Colby Colburne
If you’re looking to create a professional writing portfolio, start by finding a short story that you’re particularly proud of. It could be a piece of new work that you’ve just completed or an edit that raised your game. Whatever the case, find a way to showcase this story to your advantage.
The second crucial element to include in your writing portfolio is an organized introduction. The purpose of this part of your portfolio is to introduce the reader to your work. You could include a brief bio about yourself or a short excerpt from one of your novels. The key is to keep it interesting and relevant to your work. For instance, if you’re an English major with a passion for Sherlock Holmes, you could include an excerpt from one of his cases. Or if your novel is set in the 18th century, you could include something about George II’s Great Britain or The Jacobite Rising.
The last element that you need for your perfect writing portfolio is a strong call to action. This is particularly relevant for non-fiction pieces, but it’s also important for science fiction and fantasy. The key is to engage the reader and make them want more. You could include a solicitation for readers or an offer of free advice for aspiring writers. You also could propose an event or a book signing. The possibilities for drawing in new audiences are endless.
To recap, the perfect writing portfolio is a combination of three things; samples of your work, an organized introduction, and a strong call to action. Let’s examine each element in turn.