12.1: Creating a Writing Portfolio

Writers write. It has always been true that the way to get a media job is to have samples of your writing. Perhaps 75 years ago, you would take a scrapbook of what you thought was your best work with you to a job interview. The interviewer, who would usually be the hiring manager, would read one or two stories and that would help inform his decision. Fifty years ago, you might send a photocopy of your best stories along with your resume. Today you’re going to provide a link to an online collection of your work.

You can look on the internet and find a lot of very fancy websites, usually created by companies that wanted to design a website for you for a fee. Remember what your goal is: To showcase your work to get a job.

Peggy Noonan a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, appears on Sunday morning political talk shows, writes books and gives speeches. Here’s a link to her website, nptice how simple it is:

• The home page simply has her name, a strip providing links to other pages, and a recent column.
• Her biography page is short and to the point also. Here’s where you learn she’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. Many writers would put that on the home page. What her biography doesn’t tell you is that she wrote the address President Reagan gave to the name after the Challenger exploded in the sky, killing four astronauts. From here biography we learn she’s a modest person.
• A page devoted to her books, ebooks and audiobooks. She reads her own books, and from her tone you learn what she was thinking as she wrote the words. Yes, they do link to Amazon, and yes, I suspect she’s an Amazon, so I suspect she’s an Amazon affiliate and earns a small commission if you order the book through her link.
• A page she calls “Archive.” Here’s where you can find the publications she’s written for, the number of articles each has published, and if you click on the magazine name, you are taken to the headline on the story, the publication and date and a snippet of the first paragraph, click on the title, and you’re taken to the full title.
• A Contact Me page and a Search page.

I think it’s an outstanding website for what it’s intended for, and I think you can adapt it to create your online portfolio..You should have one, too. While you’re looking for a job and after you get the job.

But what if you get a job at a newspaper? Or TV Station? Won’t they put up a page all about you? Yes, many will. Here’s the Washington Post page on Chris Mooney, who writes about energy and the environment. And here’s what the Post didn’t do for Mooney:

• It didn’t give samples of his work during the 10 years that he freelanced.
• It didn’t give a link to his story that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting.
• It didn’t give us the names of his books or make it easy to buy them.

He’s on Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, who also owns the Washington Post. Does the Amazon page mention that Mooney works for the Post? Of course not.

The point is this: If you’re going to be a professional writer, you’re going to want your own webpage, so start now.

Having your webpage is one step in developing your brand. Everybody has a brand, even people who think they don’t. Ann Bastinellii will tell you a bit more about the importance of your personal brand in this video:

Powerful Personal Branding

If you paid attention you probably heard her say, “You’re always being interviewed, even when you think you aren’t.” That sounded to me like a story, so I called her up and got her to explain what she meant.

Ann Bastianelli on the Unexpected Connections that Build a Career

Both her TED talk and my interview with her are excellent and well worth your time.

Your own web page is part of developing your personal brand. So is being able to sum up who you are in under a minute. It’s called a “Personal Brand Pitch” or “Elevator Speech.”

Here are a few personal brand pitches. Some are very simple; they could have been filmed with a cellphone. Others resemble a Hollywood production.

Erin Thomas

Brittany Pham

Emma Scout

Liana Saji

So, what is a personal brand pitch and how do you put one together? A personal brand pitch runs about a minute. During that minute you:

Introduce yourself

• Tell what your major is
• Tell what your school is
• Tell a story about yourself that is reflective of who you are. This is best done using the STAR framework – Situation, Task, Action, and Result. (The STAR framework can also be used in a job interview where are asked to describe the skills, abilities and personal traits that are sought for the position for which you are applying.)

Think about experiences you’ve had in your life (projects, events. Jobs/internships, service, adventures, major life events, etc. and the personality theme associated with what you did that made an impact.

These can be bullet points. This will help you think about what differentiates you, the stories you have, and your values and impact.

PRACTICAL EXERCISE

Prepare a 1 minute personal brand pitch .It should be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo for review by your instructor.