Writing Portfolio Guide - Live Write Publish

You’re a beginner looking for a way to break into freelance writing? This is your section! Whether you dream of seeing your byline in publications or you want to land paid writing gigs, this three-step guide will help you get there. (Spoiler alert: It all starts with your writing portfolio.)

Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Why Your Writing Portfolio Matters

Your portfolio is more than just a collection of writing samples. It’s your path to building credibility, showcasing your talent, and landing assignments. This guide walks you through every step of putting together a portfolio, building your confidence, and getting you pumped to pitch and pursue writing work!

The 3-Step Guide to a Professional Portfolio

These steps lay the groundwork for your freelance writing career. Once you’ve finished, you’ll have a professional writing portfolio that you can share with editors and potential clients.

Step 1: Define a Niche (or Niches)

To start, choose one or two areas to focus on. These will be your niches. For example, you may want to write for a sector within a general industry, like helping restaurants with their marketing efforts or reporting on issues in special education. You may want to specialize in a specific style of writing. Maybe you want to focus on personal essays or longform investigative articles. You’re going to narrow your focus on creating samples of those types of writing.

Copywriting has niches, too. If you want to focus on white papers or inbound sales emails or landing pages, start to think about samples that reflect the type of work you want to deliver. Having a niche (or two) is the first step toward establishing yourself as a professional writer.

Read more: How to find your writing niche
Try this: Need to brainstorm ideas? Create a list of your skills, interests, and experiences, then look for writing markets or places that need writers in those areas.
Free resource: Download the Freelance Writing Starter Kit. It has an exercise to help you narrow down your niche.

Step 2: Gather Clips and Samples

You’re going to need some high-quality samples, especially if you’re just starting out. If you already have published articles under your belt, that’s great! Even high school or college newspaper articles could be used.

If you’ve never been published, no worries! It’s perfectly OK to craft original writing samples. The goal is to show you know how to structure an article or other piece of content. Here’s a pro tip: I wanted to write corporate white papers, so I studied the structure and form of that style of writing and wrote a sample white paper for a fictional company. I made it clear the company was fictional and it was simply a portfolio sample, and it still helped me land paid assignments.

While you’re building your portfolio, try guest blogging or contributing to small publications in your niche to rack up a few quick-win clips.

Read more: How to write your first writing samples (for complete beginners)
Try this: Don’t be afraid to create mock projects—well-crafted samples demonstrate your writing abilities.
Free resource: Columbia University Center for Career Education has helpful tips on providing quality writing samples.

Step 3: Build Your Portfolio Website

A writing portfolio doesn’t need to be fancy. It has only one goal: showcase your work in a way that makes editors and clients confident in hiring you. It should be easy to navigate and visually appealing. A professional portfolio helps you stand out and land assignments.

Read This: How to build a portfolio website
Tool Tip: Use free platforms like Clippings.me or WordPress to design a portfolio with no upfront cost. (See the article above for more options.)
Free Resource: Clippings.me curates a list of winning writing portfolios. Check it out for inspiration!

And that’s it! That’s how you build a writing portfolio. Now that you know how it’s done, you’re well on your way to getting that portfolio up and running!

What’s the Next Step?

OK, I know it may seem overwhelming. If you need a little more guidance on this whole “freelance writing” thing, download the free Writing Kit mentioned above (no email required!). It’ll give you a little more guidance on getting started and narrowing your niche.

And if you want a crash course in getting started pitching magazines and publications, join the 7 Days to Freelance Writing Course! It’s delivered straight to your email inbox for one week, and it gives you step-by-step support to:

Find your niche.
Create your portfolio.
Pitch your first article ideas.

Learn more now

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need published clips to start freelancing? A: No! You can create sample projects or write guest posts to build your portfolio.

Q: How much does it cost to build a portfolio website? A: It can be free or paid. Platforms like WordPress.com and Clippings.me offer free tools to get started. If you can afford it, paying for your own domain and website are a good idea, though.

Q: What if I need more help? A: Check out our 7 Days to Freelance Writing Course or the many free articles and resources on this website! You can also listen to the LWP Business of Writing podcast on Substack.