A writing portfolio is a short, chosen set of your work, usually five to ten pieces, each with a line or two of context, put where an editor, client or hiring manager can judge you in a few minutes. It is an edit, not an archive. The samples should match the work you want next, the best one should come first, and every piece should say what it was, who it was for and what you did.
What that looks like depends on the kind of writing you do. Below are ten examples, written out the way they would appear on the page, followed by the formats to choose from and the steps to build your own. Every writer, client and publication here is invented: copy the structure, not the facts.
What a writing portfolio includes
Portfolios for reporters, copywriters and technical writers look different on the surface, but they are built from the same parts.
| Part | What it does | Keep it to |
|---|---|---|
| PartPositioning line | What it doesSays what you write and for whom | Keep it toOne sentence |
| PartSamples | What it doesThe proof | Keep it to5–10 pieces, best first |
| PartA note on each sample | What it doesSays what it was and what you did | Keep it toOne to three lines |
| PartShort bio | What it doesPuts a person behind the work | Keep it to50–100 words |
| PartContact and availability | What it doesMakes the next step easy | Keep it toAn email address and what you take on |
| PartTestimonials, client list | What it doesShows others trusted you | Keep it toReal ones, with permission |
The note is the part most portfolios skip and the one readers need most. A link tells an editor you were published. A note that says you pitched the story, reported it over five weeks and found the numbers in county records tells them what you could do for them.
Examples for reporters and freelancers
Journalists call their samples clips. Assume an editor reading your pitch opens one or two, the most relevant, and reads the top. Pick pieces whose opening paragraphs stand on their own: the lede and the nut graf are where the editor decides.
Dana Okafor, freelance reporter in Lincoln, Nebraska. I cover agriculture, rural health care and small-town business for regional and national outlets. Taking assignments from January.
Agriculture
- “The last grain elevator in Harlan Bend,” Plains Quarterly, March 2026. A 3,000-word feature on a co-op’s vote to close. Pitched after I covered the board meeting for a local paper; reported over five weeks.
- “What drought insurance pays, and what it doesn’t,” The Farm Ledger, November 2025. An explainer built from two years of county payout records.
Rural health
- “Forty miles to the nearest delivery room,” The Midland Review, June 2025. An investigation into three hospital maternity unit closures, with data I compiled from state licensing filings.
The page is short and does three jobs: it names the beats, it shows reporting rather than only bylines, and it says when Dana is free. Journalists can also claim their profile on Muck Rack, which lists their published work. Worth doing, but it shows everything. A page of your own is where you choose. A clips page like this is also what you link at the end of a pitch (see how to pitch an article).
How mid-size companies close the books in five days
Guide, 2,400 words, for an accounting software company, 2025. Published without a byline; shared with the client’s permission.
Brief: A guide for finance controllers at companies with 50 to 500 staff. The client’s old version was written for small businesses and attracted the wrong readers.
What I did: Interviewed two of the client’s customers, rebuilt the outline around a five-day calendar, wrote the draft, the meta description and three social posts.
Result: The client reports it became their most-read guide within four months.
Brief, role, result: that order works for any commissioned piece. Only include a result the client gave you and agreed to share. If you don’t know the numbers, leave the line out. An invented metric is easy to check and ends the conversation.
Client’s draft subject line: “Introducing our exciting new Bread Club subscription!”
Shipped: “Your Saturday loaf, saved before the 9 a.m. rush”
Why: In the bakery’s customer survey, the top complaint was that the sourdough sold out early. The line sells the fix, not the program.
Also in this project: the landing page, three launch emails and the card that goes in the box.
Copywriting is judged on decisions, so show one. A before and after with a sentence of reasoning proves more than ten polished headlines with no context. Include two or three brands with a clearly different tone of voice as well, so a client can see you are not writing every brand the same way.
- Memoir, about 70,000 words, for a retired surgeon. Published by a regional press in 2025. A sample chapter is available on request, with the client’s permission.
- Speeches and articles for the founder of a logistics company, 2023–2026. Two speeches shared with permission.
- Book proposal for a first-time nonfiction author; the proposal led to a publishing contract.
“She found my voice faster than I did.” — the memoir’s author
Read your contract before you list anything. Ghostwriting agreements often forbid naming the client, and some forbid mentioning the project at all. Where you can’t show the work, describe it, offer a testimonial, and write a short sample in the same genre. More on the trade in how to become a ghostwriter.
Examples for UX and technical writers
In product writing, a single string means nothing without the screen and the problem around it, so these portfolios are built from case studies. Hiring managers want to see how you think: the constraints, the options you rejected, and how you tested the result.
Problem: Failed transfers were the largest category of support tickets. Every failure showed the same message: “Error 402: Transaction could not be processed.”
Constraints: Two lines on the smallest supported phone; legal required the word “declined”; every message is translated into four languages.
What I did: Sorted the 14 failure codes into five causes a customer can act on, wrote a message for each, and tested two versions with eight customers.
Example message: “Transfer declined: over today’s $2,500 limit. Send less or try tomorrow.”
Outcome: Transfer-related tickets fell the next quarter (figures under NDA).
Three case studies like this beat a dozen screenshots. If you are moving into UX writing from another field, rewrite the flows of an app you use, mark the piece as unsolicited, and explain your reasoning just as you would for a client. The structure is the same as any case study: situation, what you did, what changed.
- Tutorial: “Send your first webhook,” for an open-source message queue library. Written from scratch, with tested sample code.
- Reference: The configuration page for the same project: 40 options, each with type, default and an example.
- Standards: The style guide I wrote for a five-person docs team, covering code samples, screenshots and version notes.
Each sample links to the published page and to the pull request, so a reviewer can read the review comments and see how I responded.
Range matters more than volume here: a tutorial, a reference page and a process document cover most of the job. A style guide you wrote is strong evidence, because it shows you can set standards for others, not only follow them. Internal docs are usually confidential; if all your best work is internal, write a public sample for a tool you know well and say why it stands in for the real thing.
Examples for authors, editors, students and new writers
Novelists rarely call it a portfolio. Agents judge them on the query and the pages, not a website. But a fiction writer with stories in journals needs a page that lists them, for editors, festival organizers and anyone who has just read one.
Short fiction
- “Salt Year,” The Ferry Review, Spring 2026. Read it online.
- “Inventory,” Larkspur Quarterly, Issue 14, 2025. Shortlisted for the journal’s annual fiction prize.
Novel
The Lamplighter’s Daughter, literary fiction, complete. For rights and publishing inquiries, contact [agent’s name] at [agency].
Post only work that is already published, or short excerpts of it. Many literary magazines treat anything posted on a public website, a personal blog included, as previously published and won’t consider it, so keep unpublished stories off the site until they find a home and check each magazine’s guidelines. The rest of the site is covered in author website examples.
Before: There were a number of reasons why Marta decided she would not be going back to the house, the main one being the fact that her brother still lived there.
After: Marta wasn’t going back to the house. Her brother still lived there.
Note to the author: Thirty words became twelve. The reason now gets its own sentence, so it lands as the reason.
Editors show their work as before and after. Label the kind of edit, since line editing, copyediting and developmental editing are different services at different prices, and add a list of books or publications you have worked on, with the author’s agreement.
Cover page: Name, program applied to, genre, total pages.
- “Low Tide,” a short story, pages 1–14
- “Visiting Hours,” a short story, pages 15–23
23 pages, double-spaced, 12-point type, page numbers in the header. Within the program’s 25-page limit.
Programs set their own limits and formats, and readers notice when a sample runs over. Put the strongest piece first; many readers decide in the first pages. One excellent story is a better sample than three good ones squeezed in to reach the limit.
- Product page rewrite (spec): A houseplant shop’s best-selling pot, the original beside my version. Not commissioned.
- Newsletter issue: From my own newsletter on fixing up old houses, published weekly since 2025.
- Blog post (unpaid): Written for a local dental practice and published under my name.
Spec work is normal and accepted, as long as it is labeled. Choose formats that match the jobs you want: if you want to write product pages, show product pages, not poems.
Website, PDF or shared document
The same samples can live in more than one place. Pick the format that suits how your reader will arrive.
| Format | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| FormatYour own website | Best forFreelancers who want clients to find them | Watch out forUpkeep and broken links |
| FormatPortfolio builder for writers | Best forClip-heavy journalists who want a quick setup | Watch out forTemplate look; plan limits |
| FormatA platform profile | Best forBeing found by editors and recruiters | Watch out forYou don’t control the order or notes |
| FormatPDF | Best forJob applications and program submissions | Watch out forLinks inside it must still work |
| FormatShared document link | Best forA tailored set for one pitch or client | Watch out forOld versions still in circulation |
Journo Portfolio, a builder made for writers, lets you start on a free journoportfolio.com address without a credit card. Check the current plans before you commit. A PDF is the safest choice when a form asks for an upload, because it looks the same on every screen. Name the file with your name and the role, not portfolio_final_v3.pdf.
How to write the note under each sample
Give each piece the same short note: the title, the outlet or client, the date, and the format and length, then one line on the brief or problem, one on what you did, and the result if you are allowed to share it. Use verbs that describe work you actually did: reported, interviewed, cut, restructured, tested.
Notes that tell the reader something
- Pitched, reported and wrote; 3,000 words over five weeks.
- Ghostwritten for a CFO; shared with permission.
- Cut from 2,000 words to 900 for the print edition.
- Rewrote 14 error messages; tested two versions with customers.
Notes that don’t
- A piece I’m really proud of.
- Wrote content for many different clients.
- Increased engagement significantly.
- My latest article (no date, outlet or role).
How to build your writing portfolio
- Decide who it is for
Picture one reader: the features editor at a trade magazine, a marketing lead at a software company, a docs manager. If you work for two very different markets, build two pages rather than one that half-serves both.
- Gather everything, then cut to five to ten
List every piece you have written, then keep only what is both relevant to that reader and work you would still sign today. Cut anything you would want to rewrite before showing it.
- Put the best piece first
Order by strength and relevance, not by date. Assume the reader opens one sample. Make it the one you want to be judged on.
- Save a copy of every piece
Links break when a site is redesigned, a paywall goes up or a publication closes. Save each published piece as a PDF with its date and original URL, and keep your final draft beside it.
- Write the notes, the bio and the contact line
One note per sample, a bio of 50 to 100 words in the voice of the work you want (see professional bio examples), and an email address that is visible, not hidden behind a form.
- Tailor it, then keep it current
Before each pitch or application, reorder or pick the two or three samples that match it. Add new work as it is published and review the whole set every few months, retiring pieces that no longer represent you.
Keeping your samples in Strokes
Strokes is a desktop editor for macOS and Windows that keeps documents as files on your own machine, which suits the raw material of a portfolio. Make one project with a folder per kind of work and keep each sample and its note as a document. When an application asks for an attachment, export the chosen pieces as PDF or Word; when you want to send a set to one editor, share a single document to the web with one link while the file stays on your computer. Version history saves earlier versions of each bio and note, so you can tailor one for a client and restore the general version afterward. The AI Assistant can read a sample and draft a first version of its note, which you then correct, since only you know what the work involved.
Frequently asked questions
How many samples should a writing portfolio have?
Five to ten for most writers. Fewer is fine if each piece is strong and relevant; more usually means weaker pieces dilute the good ones. For a single pitch or job application, send the two or three samples that match it best.
What if I have no published writing yet?
Write spec pieces in the format of the work you want and label them as spec. Your own blog or newsletter counts, and so does unpaid writing for a real organization, as long as the note says what it was.
Can I include ghostwritten work or work under an NDA?
Only with permission, so read your contract first. If you can't show the piece, describe the project by genre, length and type of client without naming anyone, and offer a testimonial or a sample on request instead.
Should my writing portfolio be a website or a PDF?
Use a website if you want clients and editors to find you, and a PDF when an application asks for an upload or sets a page limit. Many writers keep both: the site for discovery and a PDF built from it for submissions.
Should I list my rates in my portfolio?
That depends on your market. A starting rate filters out clients who can't afford you; quoting per project gives you room to price each job. Either way, keep rates on a separate services page so the portfolio itself stays about the work.
