The Writer's Portfolio: Presenting the Professional You

What is a Portfolio?

The writer's portfolio is a collection of writing gathered in a display vehicle, usually a simple three-ring binder. The concept is borrowed from the fine arts. Painters, sculptors, and other visual artists have portfolios that display photographic slides of their work. Galleries want to see an artist's portfolio before deciding whether or not to show the artist's work. "Show me what you've done," curators ask.

Similarly, journalists will fill manila folders or envelopes with "clips," scissored samples of their published articles cut from newspapers and magazines in which they've published. When journalists apply for jobs, employers say, "Show me your clips." And out comes the folder, the journalist's portfolio, stuffed with its confetti sampling of prose.

A professional writer's portfolio is similar to an artist's, more similar still to a journalist's. But it differs from both in significant ways.