writing portfolio report

14 mins read

25 Writing Portfolio Examples (PDF & Other Formats) + Useful Portfolio Tips

Are you struggling to create the perfect writing portfolio? Here are 25 writing portfolio examples + 7 useful tips to make it happen!

Protim Bhaumik

Director, Content Marketing

Written by Protim Bhaumik , edited by Shreya Bose , reviewed by Eric Hauch .

2. Dec 2022 , updated 8. Feb 2024

Looking to create a writing portfolio? Curious how to do that without futzing with a website builder for days? We’ve been there.

We know that building a writing portfolio is hard — questions like what you should include, where you should host it, and how to effectively create something that gets you work, need answering! To that end, we've put together a list of 25 writing portfolio examples from our customer base that can inspire you as you make your own and included their tips on how they use Authory. (This is a collection of amazing writers, top journalists, and more.)

I also flagged examples that include PDFs because this type of content is notoriously clunky to upload in some website builders. Some clients and employers ask for PDFs, and building that into a portfolio website can be tricky. So, we'll cover how to do that by showing you 5 PDF writing portfolio examples and then 20 regular writing portfolio examples.

5 Writing portfolio examples in PDF format

When you want to save your writing samples, many people start by downloading a PDF that’s saved in a folder and then sometimes, maybe, once a month/year/panic attack, uploaded to a website. It’s a pain to constantly upload your writing samples, but it’s also risky. There’s always the potential your work is edited or removed before you think to save it.

With that in mind, we built Authory. We search the internet for your content and automatically add it to your website. However, we also make it easy to upload existing PDFs you might have.

Here’s how you can do it:

Here are a few examples of how it looks and advice from our customers on building a smart portfolio.

1. Sarah Sparks

Sarah is an advocate, consultant and writer.

For Sarah, Authory is “easy to use and I like how it aggregates media links before I do sometimes.”

That’s our goal. We automatically collect and back up your work so you don’t have to.  

Sarah’s tip: Just make it easy to navigate - one of the reasons I like Authory. One of the easiest ways to do this is by creating collections.

For example, Sarah’s collections include “legal” “social justice” “Indigenous” and “opinion.” Collections make it easy to categorize your content and then send specific collections to editors and publications when you’re asked for writing samples. You can watch a video on creating collections here.

Sarah Sparks' PDF portfolio.

Here are a few additional PDF portfolio examples that you can review.

2. Alex Hargrave

Alex Hargrave's PDF portfolio

You’ll notice that Alex has two collection examples; education and COVID-19.

3. Kevin Johnston

Kevin Johnston's PDF portfolio.

4. Kerry Sunderland

Kerry Sunderland's PDF portfolio.

5. Urvashi Aneja

Urvashi Aneja's PDF portfolio.

20 Writing portfolio examples in other formats

Besides PDF focused portfolios, we pulled examples of other portfolios and tips for how our expert customers are adapting them to make the best use of them.

Authory is a great additional branding tool

For many people, they have an Authory account to collect their work samples in addition to other branding tools.

1. Brian Clegg

Brian is a science writer with over 40 (fourty!) books in print.

Brian’s Authory site isn’t his only site. It works in addition to his other properties and supports his other online properties. When you google Brian, you’ll find all of these properties. Of note, it’s also possible to integrate an Authory portfolio into an existing online portfolio builder like Wix or SquareSpace.

But why bother? Brian uses Authory to “make my online writing easily available to my book readers and to support my book review site www.popularscience.co.uk .” And with our automatic tools, it takes little time to create this additional homebase for readers.

For Brian, Authory also collects his work, saves it, and he distributes it in a newsletter. It automates and does a lot of work quickly.

Brian Clegg's writing portfolio.

2. Brandon Hill

Brandon is a multimedia journalist covering music and culture, public policy, mental health, the labor movement and social inequality.

“Authory is a great resource for freelancer writers in more ways than you would expect. By automatically updating and feeding your work into a newsletter, it both saves the time and frustration of managing a website and makes for more reliable one to one connections with your audience than social media. Also, by creating automatic pdf back-ups of your publications, you’ll never loose a portfolio piece,” he said.

Like many people in this list, he’s thoughtful about his categories and collections.

“Include some pretty specific categories to lesson the time an employers spends looking at content that might not be relevant to them,” he said.

Brandon Hill's writing portfolio.

3. Scott Matthewman

Scott is a theater critic who is frequently writing reviews. It can be quite a pain to keep these recorded and organized.

“I review over 100 theatre shows a year for various online publications. Authory’s automated tools gives me a single URL where all those reviews can live, hassle-free,” Scott said.

You’ll notice that Scott’s profile shares collections.

“[Authory’s] been useful to promote my reviews to a wider audience on social media. At the end of last year I built a dedicated collection of my 20 favourite reviews for 2022, which was so easy to do and then link to from everywhere.”

Scott Matthewman's writing portfolio.

Use Authory and never worry your work will disappear

4. Tabitha Potts

Tabitha is a published writer with several short stories in print anthologies as well as online.

She uses Authory to share her work with “potential employers, literary agents or publishers (my creative writing, book reviews and journalism are all there).”

The big reason she recommends using Authory is to avoid the situation where your content might be lost and because much of the work is done for you automatically.

And of course it makes it easy to showcase your work.

“I share my Authory profile with every new and potential new client so they can sort and view my published work by category,” she told us.

Tabitha Potts' writing portfolio.

5. Diana Rosen

Diana is an essayist, flash fiction writer, and poet. For her, Authory is “an elaborate business card.”

Her advice is simple: When capturing published work, review thoroughly to avoid duplication or (Egads!) errors.

Diana Rosen's writing portfolio.

Create collections to share what’s relevant

When you’re sharing your work, with an editor, employer, or even just another writer, you don’t always want to share all of your work. It’s key to create and categorize your work by niche or category. You can create collections that make this very easy and share only specific pieces of content with certain people.

6. Carrie Cousins

Carrie  has 15 years of experience in media, design, and content marketing and is a freelance writer and designer.

We asked her for advice for other portfolio builders.

“Think about ways to group content that showcases specific niches that you work in or want to work in. It can really help make sharing and getting new work a lot easier,” Carrie said.

That’s easy to do with Authory’s collection tools. It’s easy to categorize content, give it a label, and share just this grouping with editors.

Carrie Cousins' writing portfolio.

7. Stephanie Bernaba

Stephanie is a writer, multimedia journalist, and photographer.

This is easy to do with our collections feature. We want to make it easy for you to organize your work and send exactly what you need to editors so you can land the gig.

Stephanie had a bit of advice, too.

“Communicate your passion with your header. Make your headline impactful but succinct. Lastly, arrange your work into easily-searchable categories,” she said.

Stephanie Bernaba's writing portfolio.

8. David Worsfold

David is a journalist and author, specialising in finance and insurance

You’ll notice that his portfolio uses the collection feature, too.

“By making it easy to share my work. The collections help showcase writing on specific topics,” he said.

Of course, be thoughtful with your categories.

“Think about the audiences you want to reach and organise your work accordingly,” he mentioned.

David Worsfold's writing portfolio.

9. Kathy Parker

Kathy Parker's writing portfolio.

10. Geraldine Brook

Geraldine Brook's writing portfolio.

11. Pam Moore

Pam Moore's writing portfolio.

12. Mary Ann Gwinn

Mary Ann Gwinn's writing portfolio.

13. Simon Denyer

Simon Denyer's writing portfolio.

14. Jarrod Kimber

Jarrod Kimber's writing portfolio.

15. Carrie Back

Carrie Back's writing portfolio.

16. Crystal Housman

Crystal Housman's writing portfolio.

17. Steven Levy

Steven Levy's writing portfolio.

18. Carin Marais

Carin Marais' writing portfolio.

19. Rosanne Barrett

Rosanne Barrett's writing portfolio.

20. Dan Rosenbaum

Dan Rosenbaum's writing portfolio.

What your takeaways should be from these writing portfolio examples

What a writer portfolio is, and why you need a writing portfolio.

A writing portfolio is a collection of your best (and possibly all) writing samples put together on a website so that potential clients and employers can make a "buying" decision — in essence, all the information that they may need to engage you for your writing services.

An online writing portfolio can also do wonders for your personal branding if managed well. So, in a word, your portfolio is a single place through which you can source work.

Curating the perfect set of writing samples for your portfolio

It's important to figure out what kind of writer you are and the type of writing work you're looking for. This process will inform the writing samples that you'll highlight in your writing portfolio.

Remember, writers come in all shapes and sizes (literally!), and you could be a content writer, copywriter, novelist, author, non-fiction writer, poet, journalist, and more... the list is practically endless.

With that in mind, it's essential that you curate the content on your writing portfolio with examples that will impress upon readers your specific set (and type) of writing skills so that they can make an informed decision when hiring you.

To that end, if you feel that you don't have a good set of writing samples to upload to your portfolio, then it might be best to get writing!

To help you build out your writing portfolio, I've put together a small set of ideas/resources that I turn to for inspiration, support, and general diversion:

• Subreddits like r/writingpromts, r/thedailyprompt, and r/promptoftheday are excellent for trying out amateur storytelling.
• Other subreddits like r/writing, r/freelancewriters, r/keepwriting, r/writers, r/selfpublish, r/blogging, r/copywriting, r/technicalwriting, r/wordcount, r/writingmotivation, offer up a plethora of options for3 you to explore as writer.
• To find work, subreddits like r/hireawriter, r/forhire, r/b2bforhire, r/writersforhire, r/jobbit, and r/writingopportunities can be a source for work if you're lucky.
• What's more in your control is writing for your personal social media accounts to build up that personal brand.
• You could also provide your services for free or reduced rates to friends and family who run a business — this can be for their social media accounts or even their websites.
• Form a writing group with a friend — I have a weekly writing meetup with a close friend, and this can be an online meetup — my friend is half a planet away!
• Write about what you know: everyone knows something and has a lot to offer, even if it's a personal experience. For example, when I am stuck, I write about content marketing and SEO — I don't publish these pieces necessarily, but they're great for getting the juices flowing. That said, I could post them in my writing portfolio.

Seven tips for creating the ideal writing portfolio website based on the writing portfolio examples above

The writing portfolio examples above should give you a great idea of what a writing portfolio must look like, and the various ways other writers choose to exhibit their work.

We've also gone over why you need a writing portfolio and how you can create a few writing samples in case you feel the need to.

Now, let's get down to how you should create a writing portfolio website. We'll go over the best and most efficient ways to go about creating it.

1. Make your website more organized for simpler navigation.

It's vital to organize your online writing portfolio in a way that's easy for your readers to follow. Place your top projects front and center for simple accessibility. Note: what the ideal projects are may differ from client to client. So, suppose you divide your work into carefully curated collections with different URLs. In that case, that specific URL that contains projects pertaining to that particular client can be shared with them.

2. The "correct" number of your projects for easy viewability

The conventional wisdom is that you should limit the number of projects on your online writing portfolio so that a prospective client can make a quick and easy assessment.

I think this is WRONG.

Your portfolio website HAS to have ALL your content. Why? Well, because hiring managers, clients, and employers are looking for both quality AND quantity. Yes, they aren't going to read your entire portfolio website, but they are looking for consistency and experience.

Obviously, if you wrote a terrible article long ago as a young budding freelance writer, don't include it. So, I'll change my caveat to " nearly ALL your content."

Hence, the navigation of your writing portfolio becomes super important. Remember how I spoke about dividing your work into collections? Well, that is a must if you're including a ton of content. Split it by topic, type, publication, etc., and then share the correct URL with your prospect. Let them begin their journey through your writing portfolio from a starting point that you have determined for them.

Place your contact information in an easy-to-find spot so that when a prospect is satisfied with your writing, they can contact you immediately.

3. Imagery for better conversion rates

Human beings positively respond to visual stimuli, especially faces, which means if you're able to include graphics in your writing sample, you have a better chance of converting your readers.

4. Write case studies to exhibit results

If you have the bandwidth to do so, then you should take some time to write case studies for the work that you have done. A simple format to follow for writing case studies is as follows:

• Start with the results: usually exhibited in the form of "increase X by Y." So, for example, I could say I increased traffic to the blog by 11X.
• Then outline the problems and challenges that the client was facing before you joined the project.
• Next, explain how you solved those problems with your writing, your work, and general professionalism.
• And finally, round it off by digging into the details of the results you achieved a bit more and touch upon how the client is doing now.

5. Add social proof to lend credibility to your work

Unfortunately, writing is a creative art, and there are always critics. If you can get a past client to vouch for you and your writing, then that social proof can stand you in good stead when soliciting even more work. Add all the social proof (read: testimonials) you can in your writing portfolio to bump up that conversion rate.

If you have done work for friends and family, this would be a great place to begin hunting for testimonials.

6. Present your contact info in an easily accessible place

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating because it's so important. The whole point of having a writer's portfolio is to get work. If people cannot contact you or can't find your contact details, that will severely affect your chances of getting new projects. Social media handles will do if you're uncomfortable with sharing your email address or phone number publicly.

7. Use a website builder for writers like Authory to create your portfolio quickly and back up your work

All of the tips here are excellent (if I say so myself!), but that said, creating a writer's portfolio is a lot of work !

So, leaving the best for last: my final piece of advice is to use a portfolio website builder so that you can cut down the time to build one.

A couple of major issues that writers face are:

• Updating their writing portfolios when they write new content, especially when creating a portfolio from scratch, takes effort. So, in essence, most writing portfolios are out-of-date.
• And writers also lose access to their work when websites go down, and content gets re-bylined, etc.

That's why a service like Authory is perfect for writers worldwide. With Authory, you get a self-updating portfolio plus a full auto-updating backup of ALL your content. It's super simple to set up your Authory portfolio:

• Sign up for Authory for free !
• Add your sources, i.e., all the places where you've published content on the web. Authory will automatically find your bylined content from these sources and import it into your Authory account.
• Build a collection from the collection tab: click "+ Create collection" and follow the instructions.
• Then go to the portfolio tab : go to the "Content" tab on the left menu and add the collection you just created.
• And then, toggle your portfolio on from the "Portfolio" tab on the left menu, and check out your portfolio!

And now you'll have a self-updating portfolio that also automatically backs up all your content!

To see more writing portfolio examples, check out our other collection :

• Content Marketers
• Journalists

Protim is a startup founder & marketer with over a decade of experience in content marketing, content writing, SEO, and more. He loves dogs, D&D, and music!

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WEBSITE ESSENTIALS

12 best writing portfolio examples and how to create your own

• Brandi Hunter
• Dec 18, 2023

Get started by: Creating a website →  | Getting a domain →

When it comes to starting a business  around your writing, visibility is everything. The more well-curated and attention-grabbing your writing is, the higher the chance that potential clients and publications will notice your talent. Making a website  that presents your writing portfolio can help introduce the industry to your talent and invite new work.

You may be thinking, “I’m a writer, not a website designer”—that’s where Wix can help. Its templates and beginner-friendly website builder make getting started as straightforward as it can get. To get the creative juices flowing, here are 12 writing portfolio examples from Wix users. Later on, we’ll provide a more straightforward step-by-step guide to building your own.

Start building your online portfolio  with Wix today.

12 writing portfolio examples

Jed Donahue

Sam Carlson Creative

Lauryn Higgins

Jessica Van Devanter

Madison Gray

Jane-Ellen Robinet

Christina Sterbenz

Bryn Dippold

Charlotte Kho

Emma Newell

Maddie Pfeiffer

Rachel A.G. Gilman

01. Jed Donahue

Jed Donahue’s website is a great example of how speaking to your client’s pain points can compel them to reach out. The homepage header copy, “When you need great content, I’m here to help,” focuses on the customer’s needs. Testimonials from previous clients provide proof that Jed can deliver results. Meanwhile, the “What I can do for you” section gives a practical breakdown of the workflow and services that clients can expect.

02. Sam Carlson

Sam Carlson takes his writing portfolio a step further by putting his client work front and center. He highlights his creative flair and prowess as a copywriter by including engaging introductions for each case study. Every project page boasts a concise and clever summary, followed by the client's logo and key project assets. Additionally, his "Fun" page, which presents his personal projects, offers a glimpse of his hobbies and talents outside of writing.

03. Lauryn Higgins

If you, like Lauryn Higgins , have an extensive writing portfolio that includes several bylines with well-known media companies, you can strategically add publication logos to your website and link them to your author pages to show off your credibility. On her “Awards and Publications” page, she features snapshots of some of her best clips, along with several awards.

04. Jessica Van Devanter 

If you don’t have any visual content to display and don’t want to go through the process of finding a set of free-to-use visuals that match your branding and content, take a look at Jessica Van Devanter’s writing portfolio. By making the site’s design the focal point, she bypasses the need for external graphics or images that may not align with her branding. 

Her logo, a shrewd-looking fox, serves as the background for the large header, which captures the viewer's attention upon arrival. Below it, a mountain graphic underlays the main content area, providing a sense of continuity without overpowering the text. 

The structure of each page is reminiscent of a timeline, with her written works positioned as milestones, guiding visitors through her professional journey. The bright green and white font colors provide a deliberate contrast against the muted blue background, ensuring readability and drawing the eye to her written work.

Use Wix’s logo maker  to start building out your personal brand.

05. Madison Gray

As a writer and an artist, Madison Gray masterfully demonstrates both skill sets throughout her portfolio. Pairing her highlighted works with original images draws visitors in and creates a visually engaging narrative of her talents. Each project page indicates which skills she utilized to complete the project, offering a comprehensive understanding of her multifaceted abilities.

06. Jane-Ellen Robinet  

Jane-Ellen Robinet limits her writing portfolio to a page to help website visitors get the information they need quickly. The above-the-fold section summarizes her unique value proposition (“INSIGHT + PERSPECTIVE + EXPERIENCE”) and provides specific job titles for the services she provides (“Editor | Writer”). The header features anchor links to each section of the page to ensure easy navigation. 

07. Christina Sterbenz

Rather than categorizing work by publications, Christina Sterbenz structures her portfolio page around writing topics and pairs each section with a compelling image from one of the relevant clips. This strategy adds visual appeal and gives each topic a personal touch, making the stories more approachable and intriguing to visitors. The images, paired with informative captions, humanize the subjects, enticing readers to delve deeper into her work.

In terms of website design, the portfolio benefits from a clean layout and a modern, minimalist font, which together enhance the site's readability and aesthetic appeal. Visitors can effortlessly scan the pages, finding what they are looking for without feeling overwhelmed. Additionally, the consistent use of design motifs—such as circles and lines throughout the site—contributes to a cohesive and memorable brand identity.

Like this format? Use this creative CV website template  to get started.

08. Bryn Dippold  

Bryn Dippold uses Wix’s blog maker  to showcase her work samples. This approach of republishing content directly on her portfolio, rather than merely linking out to external publications, serves as a strategic method for keeping visitors on her site for longer and providing a comprehensive view of her work.

Many Wix website templates already come with an integrated blog. Alternatively, you can choose to add the blog feature to any template, tailoring it to fit your unique style. Wix allows you to customize the blog settings, enabling you to curate and present your best work in a manner that aligns with your professional image and goals. 

09. Charlotte Kho 

Charlotte Kho uses neutral colors, layered design elements and striking imagery to introduce herself as a digital and creative storyteller. The “Resume” page provides a lot of information, but its clean layout is easy on the eyes, and you have the option to download her CV. On the “Work” page, Charlotte offers a small selection of her best work, plus links to view more of her published pieces.

Like this layout? Make it your own as Charlotte did by customizing this business CV website template .

10. Emma Newell 

Emma Newell's website demonstrates a balance of simplicity and engaging elements, creating a visually appealing and user-friendly experience. The site employs subtle animations that add a dynamic touch without overwhelming the visitor. Notably, when you click on any link in the menu bar, the content below appears to swipe out of view as new content takes its place. This seamless effect maintains the homepage's structure and provides an uninterrupted browsing experience.

11. Maddie Pfeifer

Maddie Pfeifer effectively leads with her experience by featuring her resume on the homepage. It details her past work, highlights her skillset and lists the awards she has received in the course of her career. We appreciate that she prominently placed her contact information above the fold for easy accessibility.

Her website is a model of organization, making excellent use of Wix’s advanced menu features . The dropdown functionality in her navigation bar allows for an expanded array of options, enhancing the user experience. Visitors, when exploring the “Portfolio” page link, are greeted with the option to select content categories like “Event coverage” or “Crime & courts,” tailoring their browsing to their interests.

12. Rachel A.G. Gilman 

Rachel A.G. Gilman elevates her homepage's simplicity with a playful, animated headshot, contrasting colors and a classic font choice, creating a dynamic first impression. Under the “Writing” tab, her comprehensive archive is meticulously sorted into distinct categories, making it easy to sift through her published work and accomplishments.

How to make a writing portfolio of your own

After exploring some of the best portfolio website examples , you’re probably eager to get started on learning how to make a portfolio  of your own. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just getting started, these tips will help you present your work in a way that captivates and communicates your unique voice and skills. 

01. Identify your target audience

To properly tailor your site design to your audience, you need to identify who you’re looking to impress. For instance, if you’re using this type of website  to pitch to editors, you might consider spotlighting your best features or most impressive bylines. On the other hand, if you’re cultivating a professional portfolio  for freelance clients, you might want to put testimonials or a list of services front and center.

02. Establish your goals 

Setting clear goals is crucial to track your progress and success. If your objective is to boost engagement with freelance clients, you might measure this by the number of inquiries or project offers you receive through your portfolio site. On the other hand, if increasing your visibility as a writer online is your goal, you could focus on monitoring website traffic, page views, or how long visitors stay on your site. Regularly assessing these aspects will help you understand what's effective and what needs improvement in your portfolio.

03. Choose the right platform

When looking for a platform for your online presence, choose a portfolio website builder  that aligns with your technical ability and the amount of time you can dedicate to maintenance. Although creating a bespoke website might be impressive and a simple clippings curator (such as Muck Rack) would be convenient, it’s a better idea to go for a builder that combines the best of both worlds, offering both customizability and convenience. 

With Wix, you’ll have hundreds of customizable templates to choose from and AI tools that make designing and filling it with images a breeze. Furthermore, Wix enriches your website with features like built-in forms, custom email addresses, and newsletter capabilities, ensuring you can easily connect with your audience and maintain those connections effortlessly.

Check out this selection of Wix website templates for writers .

04. Decide how you want to structure your showcase

When building the “Works” or “Clips” section of your online writing portfolio, your focus should be on showcasing your writing as well as highlighting the outlets you've collaborated with. Select pieces that represent your best work and reflect the type of work you aspire to continue doing. Remember, it's always about quality over quantity. A handful of outstanding pieces will have a greater impact than a multitude of average ones.

If you're at the beginning of your career and lack professional bylines, don't hesitate to include your best work from college or independent projects. Additionally, consider starting a blog that reflects the kind of work you aim to do professionally. 

05. Build an archive

Imagine losing your most valued work if a website goes down or a publisher removes your article. To prevent this, create an archive on your portfolio site. By uploading and publishing posts using the Wix content management system, you not only safeguard your work but also boost your site’s SEO and engage visitors more effectively. However, remember to check your contracts, as some publishers may restrict this. If time is limited, consider downloading your articles as PDFs and linking to them on a dedicated page. It's best to maintain this archive separately from your featured works, ensuring they continue to be the main attraction.

06. Flesh out the rest of your site

Your writing portfolio is more than just your work; it's a complete presentation of your professional persona. Each page on your site plays a critical role in telling your story. Here's how to make them count:

Home: The homepage is your portfolio's front door, welcoming and guiding visitors. It's crucial that this page clearly communicates what you offer as a writer. Make sure visitors can instantly understand your area of expertise and writing style.

About: On your “About” page, detail your professional journey, educational background and skill set. This page is an excellent place to infuse personality into your resume. Consider including a PDF version of your resume so hiring managers can add it to their databases.

Contact:  The “Contact” page is your open invitation for communication. Offer multiple methods to reach you, such as a contact form and an email address. Consider using scheduling software  to make it easy for potential clients to set up consultation calls. 

When writing the copy for these pages, make sure your tone is consistent, engaging and speaks to your desired audience. If incorporating imagery, make sure they’re high-quality, complement the text and reinforce your professional image. Each element should seamlessly blend to form a cohesive and inviting online presence.

07. Test and publish

Broken links, grammatical errors or faulty contact forms may lead visitors to doubt the quality of your work or discourage them from reaching out. Make sure to do a thorough assessment of your site, and consider sharing your writing portfolio with others to get their feedback.

08. Update your website

Regularly update your portfolio with your latest work. This keeps your site fresh and shows potential clients your active involvement and range of skills. A current portfolio can also inspire new project ideas among visitors.

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How to Create a Writing Portfolio (With Examples)

Want to create a writing portfolio that'll stand out to readers and potential clients? Here's how to do it and some examples to make it easy for you.

As a freelance writer, it's beneficial to have a portfolio of your work, so potential clients can review your work and learn about your area of expertise. Before starting to work on your portfolio, you should consider the writing you want to do.

Whether you're a copywriter, a ghostwriter, writing literature, or a journalist, that should be clear when people view your portfolio. One of the first things to consider when creating your portfolio is your niche, and determining your niche can help you select your articles and the layout.

6 Steps to Creating Your Writing Portfolio

Here are the six steps to creating a writing portfolio that will help you get noticed by readers and potential clients:

1. Choose a Portfolio Host

In today's virtual world, having an online portfolio is a must for most creatives. You get to decide whether you want to host your portfolio on your website or prefer to have another company host it.

You can create your portfolio using a platform like Wix, Weebly, or WordPress. If you'd rather have your portfolio hosted by a site specializing in online portfolios, you can choose from sites such as Clippings, WriterFolio, or JournoPortfolio. You might be interested in these free platforms to showcase your freelance writing portfolio .

2. Determine Your Niche

If you're struggling with selecting the type of writing you want to focus on, it may be a good idea to review your previous work and see which ones had the most impact, response, and reach. If you want to focus on ghostwriting, you may want to clarify what type of content you can write. This can range from real estate to gardening, holistic medicine, or another industry in which you have writing experience.

As a copywriter, do you enjoy creating sales pages and other marketing copy, like landing pages, newsletters, and email sequences? What kind of literature do you write if you're a literary writer? You can focus on romance, fantasy, horror, or any other genre. What type of news do you write about if you're a journalist? Do you write about current events, celebrity gossip, or financial or political news? The possibilities are endless.

3. Create Your Author Bio

Your author bio aims to introduce yourself to potential clients who enjoy your work and want to learn more about you. The content you include in your bio should match the formatting and design of the website. The elements you should consider including are:

• Where you're from originally.
• Where you call home currently.
• Your academic writing credentials, if applicable.
• Your notable publications.
• Any accolades and awards you've won.
• The subjects or themes you cover.

You can include your social media links if you're comfortable, and they highlight more of your written work. If you're creating your site for the portfolio, you can choose to include the bio on an about page or have it as your homepage.

You may consider adding a photograph of you since it can increase the chances of people reaching out to you. You may be interested in learning tips on how to write an about me page in your online portfolio .

4. Select Your Best Work

Once you've decided on the niche you want to focus on, you can review your completed work and choose the best content that fits that specialization. You can include work past clients have succeeded with and their feedback.

Your potential clients want confirmation that you can produce well-written content about the content you're stating is your specialization. It may be helpful to verify the terms of the work you've written to determine whether you can post the entire content as a part of your portfolio or if you'll have to provide links.

If you provide links, specify the publication and when it was published. You might be interested in learning how Google Docs can help organize your writing portfolio for the next step.

5. Organize Your Work Into Segments

You can divide the work you want to include in your portfolio by niche, or the type of article, using clear descriptions. Categorizing your work makes it easier for potential clients to find samples of the work they're looking to hire you for when you separate them by niche or type. Examples of categories include landing page copy, white papers, and blog posts, to name a few.

Your descriptions for your categories should be brief. If the content you want to share was done as a ghostwriter and didn't include your byline, you should include the term ghostwriter in the work description to clarify it.

6. Ensure Your Contact Information Is Easy to Find

Your online portfolio must make it easy for potential customers to connect with you. Whether they want to express appreciation for an article you wrote or wish to discuss a business opportunity with you, finding your number or an email address shouldn't be challenging.

Engaging with as many people as possible is an excellent way to expand your online profile. You can use a contact form on your website, or you can provide your email address.

The key is to ensure that the information is visible and easy to access, whether they're using their phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer. If you decide to share an email address, you may want to create a new account, since having an email published publicly can leave you vulnerable to excessive amounts of spam.

Writing Portfolio Examples

Before you begin creating your portfolio, reviewing what some writers have created for themselves may be helpful. You may also want to check out the blogs every freelance writer should read to get some inspiration, regardless of how long you've been writing. Here are some examples of writer portfolios with some commentary on their design:

1. Elna Cain

Elna's portfolio tells you that she's the writer you're looking for to meet your business needs. She lists publications where readers can find her work and shares testimonials from past clients.

She has numerous ways to connect with her, whether you want to discuss business opportunities or follow her online. She also has a link to her blog, so you can stay current on her work.

2. Tyler Koenig

Tyler uses his website to add value with an email list, courses, webinars, and tips on his blog. He has paid and free resources, highlighting his expertise to potential clients. The site is well-designed and easy to navigate.

3. Jennifer Fernandez

Jennifer uses a grid-based theme to display links to her writing samples, using a title and a thumbnail photo for each. She organized her writing samples in sections based on her lifestyle, design, and travel content niche. Jennifer showcases the type of writing she has experience in and makes browsing easy.

Get Started With Your Creative Writing Portfolio

Before you make your portfolio live, you may want to review it and have friends or colleagues look at it. Sometimes we can be so close to our project that we miss little things. The last thing you want is to publish a writer's portfolio with spelling or grammar mistakes.

If you're looking for work, you want to get as many eyes as possible on it to increase your chances of getting hired. You might be interested in learning how to source clients as a freelance writer now that you have a portfolio to share.

Home » Planning & Creating » How to create a writing portfolio

How to create a writing portfolio: 7 fundamental steps

The point of a portfolio is to give viewers a sense of what you can do for them. And portfolios can look very different while still getting that job done. Some of our Blurb writers have gotten hired by emailing screenshots of Facebook posts—while others have opened up professionally bound layflat photo books during interviews. Keeping in mind your end goal (selling yourself) will help ground you in this process.

Here are seven steps to help you create the perfect writing portfolio:

1. Introduce yourself

If your portfolio is your full sales pitch, think of your introduction as your elevator pitch. This sets the tone and context for your work. State your name, the type of writing you do, and any relevant background information that describes who you are.

Remember, this is a writing sample, too.  Make it unique, valuable, and memorable—and from your natural voice. This is your chance to tell your story from your point of view. Make it count.

2. Organize your writing samples

Gather up all relevant writing samples you have. These can be everything from Super Bowl ads you’ve scripted to op-eds you’ve written for your high school newspaper. And if you don’t have enough, you can create hypothetical projects for brands that exist or that you make up to showcase your skills—just make it clear they’re examples and not paid work.

Once you have all your writing samples gathered, it’s time to organize them. Keep in mind who you’re showing your work to and include the type of samples they’re most interested in. If you’re angling to carve a niche, consider grouping your work into topic or format clusters. If you’re showing off versatility, group them by medium.

Here are the top ways to organize your writing portfolio:

• Chronologically: If you have a wide range of writing samples or a linear progression in your career, consider arranging your work chronologically and share how your skills have evolved.
• Topic: If you specialize in particular types of writing, you could group your samples by topic. For example, you could organize your work by industry for your technical writing or trade book writing—or by sections dedicated to industries, verticals, or genres.
• Medium: If you write for various mediums and channels, be it journalism stories, ad creative, UX writing, storytelling, or blogging, organize your work by these key pillars to help readers understand your versatility as a writer.

No matter how you organize your work, start and end with your strongest samples. Recruiters spend less than three minutes per portfolio , whereas most hiring managers spend five to 10 minutes. Either way, that’s not a lot of time. Make sure your portfolio makes a splash to start and is easily scannable.

3. Cull your writing samples

Once you’ve compiled all relevant writing samples for your portfolio, now comes the difficult task of narrowing them down. If you’re in the early stages of your career, you may not have a lot of work to distill. But for experienced writers, it’s important to whittle down your samples to showcase only your best work. 

When making the final selection of samples to include in your writing portfolio, consider the following:

• Diversity: Depending on the structure you envision for your portfolio, consider choosing samples that capture your range and versatility as a writer. For example, creative writers might want to include a mix of short stories , screenplays, essays, or novels .
• Relevance: Your writing samples should reflect the type of writing you want to do in the future. If you’re interested in writing for a particular publication, highlight samples that overlap with that publication’s style and tone.
• Quality: As a rule, only include your best work when creating a writing portfolio. It can be helpful to recruit a mentor, friend, or colleague to get different perspectives on what others view as your highest-quality samples.

4. Craft your navigation

As you organize and narrow down what work samples you’d like to include, you can start identifying patterns for structuring your writing portfolio. In doing so, think about how you’d like viewers to navigate your book.

A table of contents, menu, or sections can provide guideposts for viewers to better travel through your writing portfolio and understand what it includes. In addition to thematic structure and the general flow of your portfolio, consider design elements like thumbnail images for each piece or major section. This adds a visual appeal and a touch of creativity that goes a long way in grabbing your prospective readers. Other fundamentals include:

• Sections: If you have ample writing samples to include, divide your portfolio into sections or chapters. This will make it easier for readers to find the pieces they’re most interested in.
• Navigation: Make sure your table of contents or website menu is simple to understand. In a digital context, you can include links to each section or piece of writing for easy navigation.
• Design: Your portfolio should be clean, clear, concise, and easy to read. Set the mood appropriately and use a consistent font, color scheme, and design elements for your sections, headlines, and menus to make them cohesive with the rest of the portfolio.

5. Design a layout

Once you have all of your writing samples selected and organized, you’ll need to think about how to best present your work in a way that’s visually appealing and on-brand with your particular style and tone. This is where the design of your portfolio comes in. When designing your portfolio, consider the following:

• Choose a format that’s creative yet easy to navigate. Whether creating a hardcopy portfolio or a website portfolio, you want to choose a format that aligns with your writing style and the context of your samples but also one that’s easy to navigate. Be creative but don’t let the design distract readers from your portfolio’s content. 
• Use a clear and readable font. Make sure that the font you choose is easy to read, both in print and digitally on the screen. It’s best to stick with very simple, legible fonts that won’t distract from your writing.
• Incorporate images or graphics. Consider adding visuals to your writing portfolio that capture the context of your work. Whether they’re symbolic photos or images that truly correspond with your samples, consider imagery that relates to your writing and engages your readers. Just be sure that they don’t detract from your copy.
• Keep it consistent. While you want your writing portfolio to be visually engaging, you also want to ensure that it’s professional and on point with your personal brand. Often, less is more. So, avoid using too many colors or fonts , and put together a design layout that’s consistent and aligned.

6. Summarize your work

Depending on the length of your writing portfolio, it can help to provide some context for your samples—especially if you can prove your worth with impressive stats. Similar to a novel’s blurb shown on the back cover of a book, these could be short summaries that introduce individual samples, case studies that outline your business results, or thematic sections of your portfolio that add color to your writer’s journey.

Writing short summaries or blurbs of your work gives readers a sense of what they can expect from each piece of writing. While not a requirement for writing portfolios, these blurbs can help guide the overarching story behind your experience. When writing these short summaries, consider the following elements:

• Overviews that summarize your work. You can include the genre , topic, purpose, brand, or writing style.
• Your intentions or goals. Break down the problem you solved with your writing pieces, like whether your objective was entertaining, educating, or persuading your readers, and who the project was for.
• The scope of the project and your role as a writer. Make sure you highlight whether your work was part of a larger publication or your own personal blog. Talk about timelines, titles, and how you contributed to any large-scale projects or group work.
• Any key performance indicators (KPIs). Hiring managers on marketing teams will be very interested in the results of your work, like how much traffic a piece earned, how much engagement it received, or how your work led to a particular business outcome.

7. Include your resume and contact info

When using your portfolio to land your dream job, including your resume (or a version of it) is a good supplement to showcase all your experience. You could include it at the beginning or end of your portfolio. In any case, it should be easy to find and relevant to your target audience.

You’ll also want to include a way for viewers to contact you, like your professional email address or social media account. Depending on the context of your portfolio, you may even consider adding a link to your LinkedIn or Instagram profile so employers can see more information about you and easily get in touch. If you print your portfolio, add links or QR codes to your professional website or digital portfolio, too.

Tips for creating a writing portfolio that wows

Now that you’re familiar with creating a writing portfolio, several additional points are worth calling out. These are general best practices and things to consider when bringing your portfolio to life.

Quality over quantity

Less is often more, as it’s generally better to showcase a small collection of high-quality writing samples rather than inundating your readers with numerous less-than-stellar pieces. Be selective with the work you choose, and aim for a diverse range that emphasizes your strengths and genres of focus.

Know your target audience

Identify your target audience for your writing portfolio, as this can help determine the specific writing samples you include and how you organize them. Keep in mind that you should tailor your portfolio to suit the needs of your potential clients or employers. Print on demand allows you to swap in and out samples that best align with each client or employer—or you can tailor your digital portfolio with specific landing pages for each application or industry.

Keep it clean, simple, and error-free

Your writing portfolio should be easy to navigate, visually appealing, and error-free. Use a simple design and make sure your writing samples are well-organized and clearly presented. Your portfolio’s overall design layout and format will help readers digest its contents. 

And since you’re a writer, typos are usually unforgivable. Get a friend or mentor (or both!) to proof your work before you send it out.

Create digital and print writing portfolios

There are many pros and cons for digital and hardcopy portfolio books . While having a digital writing portfolio might be needed for digital applications and remote positions, a print version will definitely have you standing out while attending in-person meetings and interviews. Ultimately, the decision should depend on your personal preference, the needs of your target audience, and your intended usage of the portfolio.

However, we’d suggest both. You’ll need digital samples to get through the initial stage of most applications, but few things are more impressive than a perfectly bound physical portfolio in face-to-face interactions.

Keep your writing portfolio up-to-date

Your writing should always be fresh and relevant, so don’t forget to regularly update the contents of your portfolio with new pieces or achievements. Also, it’s a great idea to tailor your portfolio for each interview. Doing this will help demonstrate your interest and commitment to the company or client.

What makes a strong writing portfolio?

Certain characteristics make for standout writing portfolios. Consider these five cornerstones of strong portfolios:

• Showcase the depth and diversity of your writing ability, including various genres and styles, to help demonstrate your versatility and range as a writer.
• Maintain consistency in your tone and presentation throughout your portfolio, even if you showcase work with different styles for different brands.
• Feature work most relevant to your primary target audience and the type of writing jobs you want to land in the future.
• Choose the most engaging writing samples that reflect your style and focus, highlighting your marketable attributes and unique skillset.
• Assemble your portfolio in a clear, cohesive, and organized manner, making it easy for readers to navigate and absorb your content.

Above all, remember that your writing portfolio reflects you and your abilities as a writer. Take the time to create something unique and memorable. We believe in you!

If you’re interested in creating a print version of your writing portfolio, Blurb offers the tools to make a professional, bookstore-quality portfolio book that will impress. 

Get started using a beautifully designed portfolio template, or create your own custom layout. Not only can you print as many books as you need on demand, but you can choose from a variety of formats, from large layflat portfolio books to smaller and more affordable options that make great leave-behinds.

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Table of contents

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• Portfolio Tips

29 Writing Portfolio Examples & Practical Tips to Create Yours

You can read thousands of guides on creating a writing portfolio –and you might still end up staring at your screen, not knowing where to start. Because sometimes what we need even more is to see real-life examples and get some inspiration. And that’s exactly what we’re going to show you today.

We collected 29 writing portfolio examples: real websites of real writers, to give you some idea about what usually goes into them and what they tend to look like. But keep on reading, because we’ve also added some brief and practical tips for creating your writing portfolio .

29 real-life writing portfolio examples

• Shanice Perriatt

Shanice's writing portfolio was created with Copyfolio, using the Letterpress template

2. Christian Boutwell

Christian made his portfolio with Copyfolio, using the Journal template

3. Rebecca Georgia

Rebecca built her portfolio with Copyfolio, using the Typewriter template

4. Emma Buckley

Emma's portfolio uses the Letterpress template of Copyfolio

5. Lara Ramirez

Lara created her writing portfolio with Copyfolio, using the Journal template

6. Halle Snavely

Halle used Copyfolio with the Letterpress template and Ink color palette to create her writing portfolio.

7. Felicia Ang

Felicia created her portfolio using Copyfolio, and the "Journal" template

8. Carly Zumar

Carly created her writing portfolio with Copyfolio, using the "Letterpress" template

9. Erica Sykora

Erica's copywriting portfolio was created with Copyfolio, using the Typewriter template

10. James Tweddle

James created his portfolio with Copyfolio, using the Billboard template

11. Kat Boogard

Kat's writing portfolio features thumbnails with a coral, navy, and white color palette.

12. The Literary Co.

The portfolio of The Literary Co. features thumbnails with laptop mockups.

13. Fika Bahroeny

Fika's writing portfolio website was created with Copyfolio

14. Robin Catalano

Robin organized their projects into categories on a separate portfolio page.

15. Eve L. Ewing

Eve L. Ewing's writing portfolio features vibrant thumbnails in a 3-column grid.

16. Ann Friedman

You can find the top pieces of her work on Ann's "Writing" page

17. Alejandro Castro

Alejandro's site is a great example for a writing portfolio with a dark background.

18. Brent Barnhart

Brent's B2B content writing portfolio starts out with a logo wall featuring top clients.

19. Malek Murison

Malek uses text styling to draw attention to the most important details in their portfolio.

20. Kristi Hines

Kristi features testimonials in her writing portfolio, to add to her credibility.

21. Jesca Austin

Jesca added brief summaries for project categories in her portfolio.

22. Tyler Womack

On his portfolio page, Tyler features his writing projects in a simple four-column grid.

23. Libby Hakim

Libby Hakim's content writing portfolio feels almost like a blog, with a sidebar to the right.

24. Tomi Adeyemi

A great example of featuring books in an author portfolio website, by bestselling author Tomi Adeyemi.

25. Micky Treutlein

Associate creative director and copywriter Micky Treutlein features projects in a 3-column grid.

26. Daniel Forte

With a crisp white background, the colorful thumbnails really pop in Daniel's portfolio.

27. Jim Vallet

Jim added his project thumbnails as a masonry grid with no white space in-between.

28. Simon Steinhardt

The simple but aesthetic writing portfolio of Simon Steinhardt

29. Leah Chamberg

Copywriter Leah Chamberg added her projects under a prominent logo for personal branding.

If you’d like to see more specific examples, check out our collection of copywriting portfolio examples –or our article about creative writing portfolios .

Here’s what you can learn from these writing portfolio examples

What is a writing portfolio and why do you need one.

Let’s start with the basics. A writing portfolio is essentially a website that houses your best pieces of writing. Those writing samples live on your site along with the most important information about you and your work that a potential client or employer needs to know. Based on that, they should be able to decide if they want to hire you as a writer or not.

How to get writing samples for your portfolio?

Having a website to host all of your work is one part of having a portfolio. But collecting the writing samples themselves is just as important. If you have years of writing experience, where you get them from is given. But what if you’re just starting out and need some credible pieces to add in there? Let’s see a few options you have:

• Spec ads or made-up projects. The term ‘spec ads’ will be most commonly known among copywriters –they refer to advertisements that a designer and a copywriter create just for practice. The same goes for other writers too: just make up a project and follow through with it. Even though it’s not real client work, these projects work wonderfully in portfolios, as they still clearly show your skills and writing style. You’ll find lots of these when browsing writing portfolio examples.
• Work for friends or family. The next step between making up projects and getting real client work is offering your writing services to those around you. If there’s anyone with a business that you could write for, ask them! Just make sure to tell them that you’d like to include it in your portfolio and do your best while completing the assignment.
• Guest posting. Another popular way, mostly for content writers, is guest posting. That means writing an article and applying to post it on someone else’s blog. There are different ways to approach it, but the end result is the same: a blog post with your name on it, on an (ideally) credible site, linking back to you. If you can get your name on a few well-known sites, it will look amazing in your portfolio, that’s for sure.
• Publishing on Medium. Guest posting takes a lot of pitching and sending lots of outreach emails. If you don’t want to do that, you can go ahead and start publishing your content on Medium instead. Without having to create your own blog, you can add your pieces and link to them from your portfolio website.
• Posting on your own accounts. Creating content and writing copy for social media is a popular area for writers –and what better way to show off your skills in it than using your own accounts? Nobody will restrict you or tell you what to do and you can also rest assured that it will stay online, just as you originally posted it.

7 tips for creating a website based on these writing portfolio examples

We’ve now gone through what a writing portfolio is , why you need one, and how to get writing samples to fill it up. We even checked a bunch of writing portfolio examples to get a little boost of inspiration. What’s next?

Getting to work and actually creating your writing portfolio website . Keep on reading for our best tips to make that process a hundred times easier and more productive for you.

Create an organized website for easier browsing

Clients and hiring managers don’t have all the time in the world: expect them to spend a maximum of 10 minutes going through your portfolio. And that’s why it’s incredibly important to have an organized website that they can navigate easily.

With the very first look, they should already know who you are and what you do. And they should also be able to navigate to your projects in under a minute. Once they’re done with checking your work, they have to be able to find your contact information easily.

Having a good experience on your website will also help you make a good (digital) first impression with them.

Limit the number of your projects to save time for the viewer

Following the same line of thought, limiting the number of projects you showcase will also help your viewers to actually finish reading through everything. We recommend adding around 4-6 projects, as you could see that in the writing portfolio examples above too.

With that many featured projects, you can showcase a good variety of samples, without overwhelming your visitors. Just remember, your motto for your writing projects in your portfolio should be quality over quantity.

Use eye-catching thumbnails for better conversion rates

Getting someone on your site and guiding them to your case studies is the first step. Making them actually click through is the next. How can you do that? With eye-catching thumbnails.

Humans are naturally drawn to images (and especially faces), so choosing ones that stand out can help to drastically improve the click-through rates on your site. Just make sure that the image you choose:

• visually fits in nicely with the site and the other images around it,
• will be visible even on smaller devices like tablets and smartphones,
• and that it actually has something to do with the project it represents.

Write case studies to show exactly what people want to know

Okay, let’s see the list so far: they are on your website. ✓ They know who you are and what you do. ✓ They found your projects and clicked on them to see more. ✓

Now is the time to convince them of your professionalism by taking them through your best projects. Here’s what you’ll have to include about each of them.

• A brief summary. Write a sentence or two to summarize the project. If someone only has time to read that, they should still find out the type, topic, and scale of the project.
• The project background. Write a little bit about the client you worked with and the task you were given. It will help the readers better understand and assess the final piece.
• The creative process. Sometimes seeing how you think and solve problems is even more important than the actual results. So talk a little bit about your creative process while working on the project before showing what you came up with in the end.
• The final results. This goes without saying, but in a portfolio, the actual writing pieces should also be featured in one way or another. We caution against just simply linking to it, as it can change or go unpublished. Including at least a screenshot (if not more), as you could see in our writing portfolio examples, about the project is always a good idea.

Add social proof to build trust with your audience

Anybody can say anything on the internet these days, so it’s no surprise that people are cautious about believing everything they read. One way to make your readers feel at ease about trusting you with their projects is by including social proof on your website, or in your case studies.

Whenever you finish working with a client, always ask them for testimonials. You can then feature them on your page, showing visitors that the people who have tried your services were more than happy with your work.

If you can, include a photo of them and a link to their business or profile, to add even more credibility to their testimonials.

Include your contact info to make it easy to get in touch

Once your visitor is convinced that you’re the one they want to work with, there’s one last thing left for them to do. They need to get in touch with you.

So do make sure they don’t drop off at this point, you need to make it super easy for them. The best way to do that is to have a “contact” item in your menu or navigation bar. That way your contact information is just one click away, no matter where they are on your website.

On the contact page, you can include your email address, phone number, and if you have a physical location they can visit, your address too.

As a bonus, you can write a few lines about what they can expect when they write to you. How much time does it usually take for you to reply? How is your process for getting started with new clients? Anything else they should know before reaching out? Write it all down to make them feel even more comfortable and confident about getting in touch.

Use a website builder for writers to create your portfolio quickly and easily

Our last and probably most useful tip is for actually getting started and creating your writing portfolio website.

In most cases, building a website either requires design and coding skills –or lots of time, waiting for the popular visual builders to finally load. Not to mention the time it takes to master using them, as they can be much more complex than they seem at first.

Instead of wasting time or getting frustrated, choose a website builder that was designed for writers, just like you. One that loads super fast and makes the website building process quick and easy for you. One that eliminates minor design decisions to make sure whatever you upload, your website is going to be stunning.

Try Copyfolio and create your own writing portfolio website today. You just have to follow a few simple steps:

• Sign in –it only takes two minutes. You can sign in with Google or Facebook, or ask for a link via email that will sign you right in. No password needed.
• Tell us your name and profession. This will be the title of your site at the beginning, and that’s all the info we’re asking for. No more filling out pages upon pages of unnecessary personal information.
• Choose a template. This will essentially decide the style of your website, as it comes with a color palette and font presets. But don’t worry, you can change it later anytime, without losing anything you’ve added already.
• Add copy to your pages. You’ll start out with the 3 most important pages: home, about, and contact. Go through them and type in all the information you need to display.
• Add your projects and write the case studies. As we discussed above, you should describe your projects as mini case studies. Follow our tips and write about your top projects, adding images to illustrate as you go.

And there you have it! You’ve just created a complete, professional website in the span of just a few hours. Send us a link when you are done, your site could be the newest addition to our writing portfolio examples!

Dorka Kardos-Latif

Digital marketer & portfolio expert, the face behind all content on Copyfolio 👋

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26 Inspiring Writing Portfolio Examples

Last Updated January 5 2024

Written By Juhil Mendpara

The best writing portfolios showcase the writer’s work — may it be an author’s book, a copywriter’s print ad photo, an editor’s case study, a screenwriter’s synopses, or a journalist’s news item — in an obvious way yet in the best light.

The words on the writer’s portfolio site undoubtedly matter, but so do everything else that makes a great portfolio website , including images, animations, fonts, color scheme, whitespace, navigation…every. single. thing!

I looked through hundreds of writers’ websites. This is the collection of the best writing portfolio examples I found!

Tip: Use ← and → arrow keys to browse.

‘My First Website’ Challenge

• • Build your first website in one week.
• • One 10-minute lesson per day.
• • Free email course.

1. Kelsey O'Halloran

Kelsey is a copy and brand messaging consultant who also provides done-for-you copywriting services. She started as a newspaper journalist and has borrowed the interview-inspired writing style from there in her copywriting career.

Her website is the perfect blend of everything a professional copywriter’s website should have.

The homepage has all the necessary elements:

• A navigation bar with links to important pages.
• Professionally shot photographs of Kelsey.
• Well-written heading and subheading copy (highest priority for a copywriter!).
• A short services section that has CTAs to service pages.
• Testimonials that are on brand with her style of work.
• Call to action buttons (CTAs) spread throughout the page.
• Nice font choice and color palette.

The copywriter’s portfolio page is equally good.

• The color palette and all other style elements are consistent with other pages, including the homepage.
• At the top, she briefly & persuasively describes her job profile and the successes her clients have had with her work, implying you’ll have similar results too.

Then, she goes into portfolio items.

• There’s one featured project, and the others are arranged neatly in a three-column layout.
• Each portfolio item has a screenshot of the web page where her work is published, the client’s name, the role she played in the job, a testimonial, and a CTA to the client’s website.
• All testimonials describe Kelsey as the expert she claims she is. Examples: “Kelsey put words to my brand, services, and personality that I’ve never been able to articulate before…”, “Kelsey asks concise questions that really make you think about your service or product in a whole new way during an in-depth interview, and she pulls out slivers of gold from your responses.”

2. Sally M Fox

Sally is a freelance copywriter and brand identity writer. She has worked with massive companies like Dove and SendInBlue.

Her portfolio is excellent. She has neatly displayed her work in a one-below-the-other, single-column manner. Each portfolio piece has a screenshot, the job she did for the client, and a short quote from the client.

I am pretty sure her clients must have given big testimonials, and she cut it down to the core, so the website page doesn’t look crammed. That’s something to learn.

3. Chris Harrison

Chris is confident in his ability to deliver great copy — I don’t personally know Chris, but that’s what his portfolio website communicates. He has been writing for the marketing world for 15+ years, and his results speak for the quality he delivers.

On the homepage: Top of the fold, Chris has a confident-looking, smiling picture. Plus, there’s outstanding copywriting showcasing his writing prowess with the classic problem-solution version of the PAS formula:

• Heading : “Getting traffic but going nowhere?” — a question addressing the potential client’s pain point.
• Subheading : “Get more customers with website copy that converts—keep them coming back with unique content.” — the solution to the client’s problem.
• CTA : “See my portfolio”

Just below, there’s also a testimonial that reads, “Chris was, is, and will be the solution to my problems concerning copywriting and content generation.” What a line to immediately build authority!

The portfolio section has screenshots of his work arranged in a vertical slider layout. I am not a fan of vertical sliders because people naturally scroll horizontally, but Chris’s portfolio works — potential clients see Chris’s work in full-sized screenshots, and they know there’s more because of the thumbnails (that they can click to see the screenshot).

Still, I prefer Kelsey’s portfolio page over Chris’s because it is straightforward, + each project has a testimonial alongside it; Chris’s testimonials are on a separate page.

4. John Green

John Green is a bestselling author well-known for his novels The Fault in Our Stars , Paper Towns , Looking for Alaska , etc. Some of his books are also turned into popular movies.

John’s website is clean, elegant, and modern. Right at the top of the homepage is a concise bio of John (with a picture) and links to his popular books. Those links open a sort of portfolio item page that goes in-depth about the work, including a short description of the book, accolades it’s gotten, and quotes from the book’s reviews.

5. Mai Nguyen

Mai Nguyen graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Ryerson University. Her journalistic works have been published in big-name publications like Wired and Washington Post . Besides being a journalist, she’s also an author and a copywriter.

Her homepage has two main elements in a two-column layout: a friendly, smiling photo and a bio section.

The bio section is in a third person, formal writing style, which suits her website. Personally, though, I love copywriting portfolio websites written in the first person, indicating that the copywriter wrote the persuasive words you are reading.

Mai’s portfolio page is accurately titled “Latest Bylines.” Inside, she lists the latest articles published under her name. They are organized minimally, with plenty of whitespaces highlighting her work beautifully.

6. Joe Coleman

Joe’s website homepage is brilliant. He has created 50+ different versions of his bio and has arranged them in a range from Less Hard Sell to More Hard Sell .

• Less Hard Sell example : “So, yeah. I’m a freelance writer. What of it?”
• Somewhere in the middle : “Hello. I’m Joe Coleman. I’m a freelance copywriter. I come up with words and concepts that can help you win pitches and pick up a few awards. I’ve got quite a bit of experience and can tackle most things from ad campaigns to brand books. My job is different every day, and I work with lots of well-known advertising and design agencies.”
• More Hard Sell example : A very persuasive, almost warning-like copy that tells the visitor if they don’t hire Joe, their competitors will :

I don’t like the blurry images in Joe’s copywriting portfolio, though. The thumbnails could be high-quality:

7. Johnny Harris

Johnny Harris is an Emmy-nominated American filmmaker, journalist, and YouTuber known for his geopolitical series “Borders” on Vox. Post-Vox, he continues exploring global issues on his personal YouTube channel, also contributing to The New York Times, amassing over 4 million subscribers.

This site serves as a portfolio for Johnny, showcasing his work as a filmmaker and journalist. It includes a page about his biography, his works (which include Vox Borders), a link to his Presets and LUTs shop, a contact page for inquiries​, a form to collect ideas (currently 404), and other typical stuff​.

8. Gari Cruze

Gari has converted his passion for words into a profession. He is an advertising copywriter who has created digital and social ads for big brands like Lyft, CES, and P&G, among others.

Gari’s portfolio looks like a typical photography website portfolio — with good quality photos, unlike Joe’s copywriting portfolio.

Note : I expect a copywriter’s portfolio to have persuasive words on the homepage. But Gari’s work is like screenwriting — it’s presented best through a visual medium. And he does a good job of presenting his ideas in full capacity through his images and video-filled portfolio.

He writes a pretty good About page copy, though:

9. Copy Kat Creative Copywriting

I am stunned by the range of things Kathryn can write. To give you an overview, she is both a fiction writer and a copywriter. If you dig into her copywriting services, here are the things she is confident in doing really well:

• About Me pages
• Our Story pages
• Full website copy MOTs
• Back-of-pack copy
• TOV guidelines
• Recipe writing
• Social copy

And she has done these for a range of clients. Her portfolio includes brands in categories like agency, beauty & skincare, fashion, food, homeware, photography, tech & software, etc.

She also runs a book club, a podcast, and her own blog!

How do I know so much about Kathryn? Through the copywriter’s well-structured website!

The homepage has a left sidebar to navigate to important pages - portfolio, about, contact page, podcast , etc. All pages have well-written, scannable copy and a clear hierarchy. She also uses other elements like filters to make the website easy to navigate:

10. Cassidy Horton

Cassidy writes for personal finance brands, specifically those serving women, people of color, and underserved communities. Her services include writing articles, sales copy, and UX writing.

The copywriter’s website is a one-page website / landing page with a clear hierarchy. The sections (from top-to-bottom) are listed in the navigation bar with jump links: Welcome > Clients > Services > About > Portfolio > How It Works > Contact.

Through the page, you’ll learn about Cassidy’s experience with debt and getting out of it, her writing experience and background, client testimonials, and more. At the bottom, there’s her writing portfolio section, in a three-column layout:

Each portfolio item has a suitable title and a minimal description. Some even have numbers/results of her work, which is sort of like mini-case studies. Examples: ‘the open and clickthrough rates increased’, ‘14 of the 16 people I contacted replied — a stellar conversion rate for cold pitches’, etc.

11. Kayla Hollatz

Kayla is a Minneapolis-based copywriter who helps creative entrepreneurs and small businesses with personality-packed, impactful copies.

Her writing portfolio page includes case studies as well as a list of portfolio items. The mentioned case studies showcase trust-infusing testimonials from the clients at the top – example: ““Your website copywriting helped us reach $1.9 million in the following year!””

12. Vibe Copy

James Schlesinger is the creative director, account director, project manager, marketing director, brand strategist, head of new business, finance director, office manager, copywriter, and probably more at Vibe Copy. He is a former actor, so this totally makes sense:

After seeing the about page, his portfolio page looks a bit lame, though, doesn’t it?

13. The Copy Canary

When marketers, copywriters, and authors speak highly of someone’s copywriting prowess, you know they are a darn good copywriter. Adele Costa, aka The Copy Canary, is that someone.

Adel’s writing portfolio page is filled with a range of work in a nice two-column format. You can click each portfolio item to see the case study of the work.

14. Alisha Selena

Alisha Selena is a copywriter with a fun personality and a passion for the power of words. Her copywriting offerings range from blog writing to radio advertisement scripts.

Alisha’s website is more of a copywriter’s resume website , but she also has a nice portfolio page that features her magazine work, sales presentation work, email & social posts, and more.

15. Stuart Writes Copy

“Stuart Writes Copy” — the website title says it all.

“I MAKE YOU SOUND FANTASTIC” — the hero text sells the offering.

And whatever more needs to be said and shown, Stuart says and shows through his portfolio of web, email, social, and print work.

16. Lauren Alejo

Lauren is a Senior UX Content Strategist at NerdWallet. Sometimes she also copywrites for NerdWallet.

I like the different-from-usual-writing-portfolios font, the UX design portfolio , and everything. But I don’t like this dropdown much:

17. MedPenPal

Margaret is an experienced medical writer and writing coach who is passionate about helping readers stay in the loop through simple health news. She has written for Forbes Health, WebMD, Verywell Health, Medical News Today, Healthline, and many similar sites.

The copywriter’s portfolio communicates exactly that with a big list of some of her top posts.

18. Drew Collins

Drew started off as a web content editor and moved up the ladder as a copywriter, senior copywriter, and associate creative director. Now, he is the owner and creative director of bond creative + branding , a creative services, and marketing studio. You can see all the work he has done throughout the years on his portfolio website.

19. Jonathan Wilcock

I love Jonathan’s hero text: “The world’s best freelance brand voice copywriter. And other slight exaggerations.” At the very least, it tells his profession and how good he is at it.

The portfolio of this writer shows just the logos of his clients. You’ll have to hover over the logo to see what he has done for the client and click on the portfolio item to see the case study of his work.

20. Locke Hughes

Freelance writer and health coach Locke Hughes, is the author of “Melatonin: The Natural Supplement for Better Sleep.” Her wellness articles have been featured in popular publishing’s such as Shape and Women’s Health Magazine.

You can see more of her work from the “Recent Articles” dropdown on her site.

21. Quotidian Writer

Quotidian Writer by Diane Callahan offers videos and articles filled with practical advice to assist aspiring authors in improving their writing craft and becoming published. Diane is a developmental editor and ghost plotter, and her niche-popular YouTube channel, Quotidian Writer, provides practical tips for aspiring authors.

22. Andy Mendes

This is the portfolio of copywriter Andy Mendes. It’s made with Format, one of the two best portfolio website builders .

23. Ally Denton

Ally Denton is a freelance writer located in Indianapolis with a portfolio in editorial, copywriting, and content writing. She’s also a musician performing at live events and a yoga teacher offering group and private lessons.

I like the simple design of her portfolio pages. It’s just a test list of her works with links to them.

24. Rod Moore

Rod offers copywriting, content strategy, and ghostwriting services. His website is different than your typical copywriting portfolio site, and I dig it.

25. Austin Copywriting

Ryan has over 25 years of experience in IT and Medical Simulation support. Now, he is a healthcare and technology copywriter. He uses a one-page Carrd website to introduce himself and then has a CTA to his notion page for portfolio.

I am not a fan of having the portfolio page separate from the main site, but maybe Ryan realized that he couldn’t have a solid portfolio on Carrd after he made the site.

Side Note : Ryan’s website title is Austin Copywriting. It’s probably for SEO purposes to rank for copywriting-related local search queries in Austin. But people may confuse the site as if it’s from a person named Austin (like the one below).

26. Austin Powe

Austin is a Brooklyn-based copywriter who has worked with brands like Starbucks, YouTube, and Google Maps. He doesn’t have a dedicated portfolio page; instead, his website’s sidebar acts as navigation to his best work.

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Writing portfolio

Discover how craft's writing portfolio template can elegantly showcase your skills and journey as a writer, helping you stand out professionally.

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Crafting your narrative: the writing portfolio template

In the dynamic world of professional writing, the way you present your work is as essential as the content itself. A writing portfolio acts as a vibrant showcase of your skills, experiences, and distinctive voice. Craft's writing portfolio template is meticulously designed for writers across the spectrum - be it freelancers, novelists, journalists, or copywriters - to organize and display their finest work in an engaging and professional manner.

What’s inside this writing portfolio template?

The template thoughtfully encompasses all elements crucial to a writer's portfolio:

• Personal introduction: Begin with your writing journey, showcasing your inspirations and unique style. This section is your platform to connect with your audience on a personal level.
• Showcase your work: Seamlessly add excerpts or links to your most impactful pieces, complete with titles and descriptions for context. For more ideas on how to effectively showcase your professional achievements, check out Craft's guide on creating a stunning portfolio.
• Skills and specializations: Display your array of writing skills and areas of expertise.
• Professional experience: Detail your writing roles and achievements, underscoring your practical experience and contributions.
• Testimonials: Authentic feedback from clients or collaborators lends credibility to your portfolio.
• Contact information: Make it effortless for potential clients or employers to contact you.
• Your writing process: Share insights into your approach to projects, from the initial idea to the final edits.
• Regular updates: Designed for easy updates, this template ensures your portfolio always reflects your latest work.

The importance of writing portfolios

A meticulously crafted writing portfolio is vital for writers of all genres, much like how successful authors plan and organize their writing. It's a showcase of not just your writing range and depth, but also a narrative of your professional evolution. A portfolio demonstrates your versatility in adapting to various styles and topics, a crucial trait in today's diverse writing landscape. Whether you're applying for a writing position, pitching to a new client, or presenting your work to a wider audience, a well-rounded portfolio distinguishes you. It's a tool that illustrates your progression, highlights your achievements, and conveys the breadth of your experience and skills, making it an indispensable asset in your writing career. Explore other templates that support the writing of best-selling books.

Benefits of using this template

Utilizing craft's writing portfolio template brings several benefits:

• Professionalism: It ensures your work is presented in an organized, aesthetically pleasing, and professional format.
• Flexibility: Adaptable to various writing styles and career paths, it's suitable for a diverse range of writers, including those involved in content creation. Discover additional templates for content creators to help grow your account.
• User-friendly: The template is intuitive, allowing you to concentrate on content, not design.
• Comprehensive: It covers everything potential clients or employers might want to know, from your samples to your creative process.

Showcasing your writing journey

Craft's writing portfolio template is more than a collection of your work; it's a canvas for your writing journey and passion. It allows you to articulate your narrative, celebrate your growth, and invite others to explore your literary world. Explore this template and let your words craft an unforgettable impression.

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1.8 Portfolio: Tracing Writing Development

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Reflect on the development of composing processes.
• Reflect on how those composing processes affect your work.

The Portfolio: And So It Begins . . .

In simplest terms, a writing portfolio is a collection of your writing contained within a single binder or folder. This writing may have been done over a number of weeks, months, or even years. It may be organized chronologically, thematically, or according to quality. A private writing portfolio may contain writing that you wish to keep only for yourself. In this case, you decide what is in it and what it looks like. However, a writing portfolio assigned for a class will contain writing to be shared with an audience to demonstrate the growth of your writing and reasoning abilities. One kind of writing portfolio, accumulated during a college course, presents a record of your work over a semester, and your instructor may be use it to assign a grade. Another type of portfolio presents a condensed, edited story of your semester’s progress in a more narrative form.

The most common type of portfolio assigned in a writing course combines the cumulative work collected over the semester, plus a cover letter in which you explain the nature and value of these papers. Sometimes you will be asked to assign yourself a grade on the basis of your own assessment. The following suggestions may help you prepare a course portfolio:

• Make your portfolio speak for you. If your course portfolio is clean, complete, and carefully organized, that is how it will be judged. If it is unique, colorful, creative, and imaginative, that, too, is how it will be judged. Similarly, your folder will be judged more critically if it is messy, incomplete, and haphazardly put together. Before giving your portfolio to somebody else for evaluation, consider whether it reflects how you want to be presented.
• Include exactly what is asked for. If an instructor wants three finished papers and a dozen sample journal entries, that is the minimum your course portfolio should contain. Sometimes you can include more than what is asked for, but never include less.
• Add supplemental material judiciously. Course portfolios are among the most flexible means of presenting yourself. If you believe that supplemental writing will show you in a better light, include that too, but only after the required material. If you include extra material, attach a memo to explain why it is there and what you think it adds to your portfolio. Supplemental writing might include journals, letters, sketches, or diagrams that suggest other useful dimensions of your thinking.
• Include perfect final drafts. At least make them as close to perfect as you can. Show that your own standard for finished work is high. Check spelling, grammar, citation, formatting, and font sizes and types. You should go over your work carefully and be able to find the smallest errors. In addition, if you are asked for a hard copy of your portfolio, final drafts should be double-spaced and printed on only one side of high-quality paper, unless another format is requested. And, of course, your work should be carefully proofread and should follow the language and genre conventions appropriate to the task.
• Demonstrate growth. This is a tall order, but course portfolios, unlike most other assessment instruments, can show positive change. The primary value of portfolios in writing classes is that they allow you to demonstrate how a finished paper came into being. Consequently, instructors frequently ask for early drafts to be attached to final drafts of each paper, the most recent on top, so they can see how you followed revision suggestions, how much effort you invested, how many drafts you wrote, and how often you took risks and tried to improve. To build such a record of your work, make sure the date of every draft is clearly marked on each one, and keep it in a safe place (and backed up electronically).
• Demonstrate work in progress. Course portfolios allow writers to present partially finished work that suggests future directions and intentions. Both instructors and potential employers may find such preliminary drafts or outlines as valuable as some of your finished work. When you include a tentative draft, be sure to attach a memo or note explaining why you still believe it has merit and in which direction you plan to take your next revisions.
• Attach a table of contents. For portfolios containing more than three papers, attach a separate table of contents. For those containing only a few papers, embed your table of contents in the cover letter.
• Chronological order : Writing is arranged in order, beginning with the first week of class and ending with the last week, with all drafts, papers, journal entries, letters, and such fitting in place according to the date written. Only the cover letter is out of chronological order, appearing at the beginning and serving as an introduction to what follows. This method allows you to show the evolution of growth most clearly, with your latest writing (presumably the best) presented at the end.
• Reverse chronological order : The most recent writing is up front, and the earliest writing at the back. In this instance, the most recent written document—the cover letter—is in place at the beginning of the portfolio. This method features your latest (presumably the best) work up front and allows readers to trace the history of how it got there.
• Best-first order : You place your strongest writing up front and your weakest in back. Organizing a portfolio this way suggests that the work you consider strongest should count most heavily in evaluating the semester’s work.

With each completed chapter in this textbook, you will add to this portfolio. As you work through the chapters and complete the assignments, save each one on your computer or in the cloud, unless your instructor asks you to print your work and arrange it in a binder. Each assignment becomes an artifact that will form a piece of your portfolio. Depending on your preference or your instructor’s approach, you may write a little about each assignment as you add to the portfolio. As you compile your portfolio, take some time to read the assignments—drafts and finished products—carefully. Undoubtedly, you will see improvement in your writing over a short amount of time. Be sure to make note of this improvement because it will prove useful moving forward.

Reflective Task: The Freedom of Freewriting

As you begin your portfolio with the addition of your critical response, compose an accompanying freewrite , sometimes called a quick write . In this case, you will be responding to your own text—a powerful tool in your intellectual development. To begin, write quickly and without stopping about the process of composing your critical response and the finished product. See where your thoughts go, a process that often helps you clarify your own thoughts about the subject—your own text and its creation. When you freewrite, write to yourself in your own natural style, without worrying about sentence structure, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. The purpose is to help you tie together the ideas from your writing process, your assignment, and other thoughts and experiences in your mind. One future value of freewriting is that the process tends to generate questions at random, capture them, and leave the answering for a later task or assignment. Another bonus of freewriting is that you will build confidence with writing and become more disciplined when you have to write. In other words, the more you write, the more confidence you will have in your voice and your writing.

By now you may have realized that writing, whether on social media platforms or in the classroom, is a conversation. The conversation may take place with yourself (freewriting), with your instructor and classmates (assignment), or with the world (social media). You have learned how people like Selena Gomez and others use simple and effective strategies, such as vulnerability , understanding, analysis, and evaluation, to engage in such conversations. Now adopt these same processes—try them on for size, practice them, and learn to master them. As you move through the remainder of this course and text, compose with intention by keeping in mind the limits and freedoms of a particular defined rhetorical situation.

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Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction

• Authors: Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey, featuring Toby Fulwiler
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: Writing Guide with Handbook
• Publication date: Dec 21, 2021
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-unit-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/writing-guide/pages/1-8-portfolio-tracing-writing-development

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Miss Kindergarten

Kindergarten Teacher Blog

How to Create a Year-Long Kindergarten Writing Portfolio

June 25, 2023 misskindergarten Leave a Comment

Kindergarten students learn and grow so much that the year can sometimes pass in a blur!  A great way to capture a snapshot of this growth is by putting together a Kindergarten Writing Portfolio .  In this post, I’m going to share some tips and printables to help you create a simple but effective writing portfolio that will document an entire school year of growth!

What is a Writing Portfolio?

A kindergarten writing portfolio is a collection of writing samples that students complete throughout the school year.  It’s an opportunity to save a few pieces of writing from different milestones in the school year.  However, a writing portfolio can be more than just saving a few different writing assignments in a file folder!  You can choose specific writing prompts that help your students tell the story of their school year.

Benefits of a Kindergarten Writing Portfolio

When you have students create writing specifically for a portfolio, you’ll find that there are many benefits.

• Create a Writing Routine: I like to use the same format for each month’s writing sample in the portfolio. This helps to create a monthly writing routine that students can easily follow.  
• Monitor Progress: Another benefit of using the same format each month is that it helps you monitor student progress.  You can quickly see, at a glance, the improvements students make in handwriting, spelling, drawing, and writing their names. This can be helpful information for parent conferences, intervention planning, and more!
• Increase Student Motivation: When students can see their own progress so clearly, it is highly motivating for them!  After several months of this writing routine, you could let your students browse the writing in their portfolios to see how far they have come. This can be really helpful in the middle of the school year when motivation can be a bit hard to find for some students.
• Document Kindergarten Memories: A writing portfolio makes a fantastic keepsake! Instead of scrambling for memory book ideas during the busiest time of the school year, you can just continue your monthly writing routine. At the end of the year, each student will have a special keepsake to take home.

What to Include in a Kindergarten Portfolio for Writing

It can be hard to decide what to include in a kindergarten writing portfolio.  Here are some of my favorite pages that showcase student learning and growth.

1. Cover Page

A cover page will help you turn the portfolio into a kindergarten memory book.  You can either include a photograph of your student or have them draw a self-portrait. Either option will result in a  great cover page for the portfolio! 

2. All About Me Page

Since your writing portfolio can serve as a memory book, it’s fun to include an All About Me page! You can have your students fill out this page at the beginning or end of the school year, depending on what works best for your class. 

Students can complete sentence frames that talk about their favorite things, like their favorite color or their favorite animal.  This page can also include details about the student, like their birthday and the people in their family. An All About Me page is something your students will love to look back on to remember what they were like in kindergarten.

3. Monthly Photo or Self-Portrait

Include a picture of your student as part of each month’s writing sample.  You could take a photo of each student during the month that you can glue to the page. This is a great way to document how much your students have grown and changed during the year!

If you’d rather have students use this as a chance to show their progress in drawing, they can complete a self-portrait each month.  It’s so fun to see how students gradually add more details to their drawings over the course of the year.   

4. Name Writing Samples

Name writing is one of the areas that students grow the most during kindergarten!  Many students enter kindergarten with no prior experience of writing their names . Some students represent their names with just the first letter. Other students write their names in all capital letters. No matter where students start at the beginning of the year, one thing is certain: They will improve this skill by leaps and bounds over the course of the school year. 

By including a space for a name-writing sample each month, you can easily document this growth.  The apples-to-apples comparison of a name-writing sample is one of the most motivating for young students to see!  

5. Monthly Memory and Illustration

The writing prompt that I like to use for the kindergarten portfolio is to have students write about their favorite thing that they did during the month. This is what really helps this writing portfolio double as a kindergarten memory book! Students can then illustrate their memory to show the growth in their drawing and fine motor skills .

6. Handprints

One final addition to your kindergarten portfolio could be a handprint keepsake.  Students can fill in their age on the line of the poem.  You can have students create their handprints with tempera paint or ink pads. Another option would be to have students trace their hands on the paper. They could even fill them in using their favorite colors!

Printable Writing Portfolio for Kindergarten

To save you time, I have created a Kindergarten Writing Portfolio printable resource with all of the page suggestions mentioned above!  You’ll find everything you need to put together a year-long writing portfolio for each of your students. 

The monthly writing prompts will showcase your students’ growth while also documenting special kindergarten memories.  The final product will be an informative writing portfolio that doubles as a memory book! Just click below to take a closer look at everything included in this easy-to-use resource.

Kindergarten Writing Prompts Portfolio and Self Portrait Templates

Save these writing portfolio tips.

If you want to come back to these tips and ideas later, be sure to save this post!  Just add the pin below to your favorite teaching board on Pinterest.  You’ll be able to quickly find these resources when you’re planning your monthly writing activities for the school year.

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Welcome to Miss Kindergarten. I’m so happy you’re here!

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PPM Express

Integrated Project Portfolio Management

The Ultimate Guide to Project Portfolio Analysis and Reports [+150 Power BI Reports Inside]

Almost all organizations have more project work than resources to complete it. Management teams frequently find it difficult to refuse new requests. Instead, they try to accomplish everything by adding more work to the already busy schedules of project teams or taking shortcuts while the project is still ongoing.

Companies continue to produce underwhelming results while making significant human and financial investments in projects because employees are left with unprioritized projects, too many projects, or without the necessary technical assistance. This results in delays, cost overruns, or low-quality work overall.

Project portfolio management is the answer.

Compared with project and program management , it utilizes completely different techniques and perspectives: selecting, prioritizing, and coordinating.

Combining those techniques with the benefits of computer technology has allowed for a breakthrough.

Despite the incredible speed at which PPM systems were adopted and processes reorganized, it soon became clear that they have one major drawback – software can do everything you ask for, but it cannot help you come up with the questions to ask.

Hence, the objective need for data analysis in enterprises with a complex management structure lets you know the right questions to ask your project portfolio management system.  

Right now, we suggest you explore the essence of project portfolio analysis and its reports in detail, define the key components, and find out how to build your analysis system. Let’s dive in!

Table of contents

What`s the difference between an analysis and a report, what are project analysis and report types, what are project analysis and report objectives, pre-data analysis in project and portfolio management, post-data analysis in project and portfolio management, essential project report components, first 7 steps to create a project report from scratch, how do manual reports destroy decision-making ability, why is automated reporting a better solution, the journey from basic siloed data reports to true project analysis, how to eliminate “tunnel vision” in your organization’s management, how to skyrocket your analysis and simplify reports with ppm express, the essence of project portfolio analysis and reports.

According to Cambridge vocabulary , analysis is the act of studying or examining something in detail to discover or understand more about it or your opinion and judgment after doing this.

A report, according to Cambridge vocabulary , has more than one definition suitable to our topic:

• A statement that may or may not be true.
• A spoken or written description of an event or situation.
• An official document made by someone who has examined a particular subject.
• A search for a particular type of information in a large amount of data – or the results of a search like this.

Let’s retain the existing definition of analysis and report, change the “something” and “subject” into “project portfolio management”, and we have accurate definitions.

You may have heard or seen people using the words “reporting” and “analysis” interchangeably or as close synonyms.

While both areas draw upon the same collected project data, reporting and analysis are very different in terms of purpose, methods, and value.

Without a clear understanding of the differences, a company may undervalue itself in one area (usually analysis) and fail to reap the full rewards of its project analysis investment. So what distinguishes reporting from project data analysis?

The goal of the analysis is to extract insights from data. On the other hand, reports are meant to gather data and organize it into understandable information.

It’s common to hear terms like organizing, formatting, building, configuring, consolidating, or summarizing while discussing reports or reporting processes. As for analysis, you will come across phrases like investigating, performing a “deep dive,” questioning, examining, interpreting, comparing, and confirming.

Another difference is that reports adhere to what is referred to as a “push strategy ”, which basically implies that once a report has been created, it is intended to be pushed to users. The deliverable on a report is the data being made usable, regardless of who is writing it: a manager, an employee, or a consultant.

Because reports “push”, you could have predicted that analysis takes a “pull” approach, in which analysis is done to “pull” out the response to whatever business query is being presented.

Predictive analysis (answers about what will happen in the future) or prescriptive analysis (the ways to optimize the next steps) are the deliverables in the analysis context.

Every step in your company’s process should be intended to advance your company’s goals, boost profits, or elevate your company’s standing in the market. As a result, we want to be crystal clear about the importance of both reporting and analysis to your business strategy.

In summary, reporting shows you what is happening, while analysis focuses on explaining why and what you can do about it.

There are eight main categories of project analysis, each with advantages and disadvantages. It’s possible to use different types of project analysis to identify and monitor various aspects of your project, such as risk, cost, and efficiency.

Here is a list of the eight most typical types of project analysis:

• Commercial.
• Institutional.
• Project risks.
• Ecological.
• Financial and economical.

Each type of analysis has specific evaluation criteria.

The multi-criteria approach is used in project analysis in all international methodologies, including the  EU Guidelines for Project Evaluation and the  GRI  (Global Reporting  Initiative ) standards on sustainable development.

Because projects require many steps and much planning so that you can use several reports at various stages, each of these reports plays a particular role in helping you successfully complete the project.

Some common types of project management reports include:

1. Availability reports

It’s important to be aware of the tools, team members, and other resources at your disposal before starting a project. To help decide how much time they have to dedicate to a new project, a team member’s workload is broken down in an availability report.

2. Project baseline reports

A project baseline report includes a complete estimated schedule of tasks and the time required to complete them.

These reports (frequently presented as graphs) let you overlay the actual timetables your team utilizes throughout a project so you can compare them to your estimate.

By comparing actual timeframes to your initial estimate, you can learn how much time different jobs require and how to estimate them better.

3. Status reports

Status reports list completed and uncompleted tasks and those currently being worked on by the team. These reports enable a project to stay on time or to alter the schedule as necessary to accommodate new project requirements.

4. Project health reports

Project health reports are more visually appealing than status reports.

They convert project status data into graphic materials so team members and management can see what has been finished and what still needs to be done.

5. Risk assessment reports

Risk assessment reports organize and prioritize the predicted and current risks of a project.

They can help teams prepare to overcome potential challenges by listing them and sometimes describing ways to avoid them.

Making a note of how vital each risk also helps prioritize how much time to give each one of them to ensure the project stays on schedule.

6. Time management reports

Time management reports show how much actual time your team spends on each project-related task.

By keeping track of the time, you can compare it to schedule estimates, determine how much of your man-hours each task consumes, and make any necessary adjustments.

7. Variance reports

Variance reports compare original estimates of metrics, such as budget or predicted profits from a project, with the actual numbers.

This improves managers’ and stakeholders ’ understanding of how much various projects truly cost and how profitable they might be in the long run.

8. Summary reports

Summary reports are a combination of other report types and frequently include data on budgets, schedules, and risks to help managers and stakeholders comprehend the overall situation and project perspective.

We are all aware that data drives many modern business decisions. Data is an essential part of decision-making. The more data you can gather and evaluate, the more theories, strategies, plans, and tests you can come up with to help your project succeed.

To manipulate and evaluate data, you mostly need reliable methods and tools. You can obtain the necessary data and get vital insights using various types of analysis, synchronization, data mining, and collection.

Project managers can have an impact on projects and businesses by analyzing data. PMs use data-driven decision-making, among other things, to:

• Identify the drawbacks of the project.
• Increase project agility .
• Get rid of bottlenecks.
• Highlight customer needs and problems.
• Increase team output and improve communication.

After the data has been gathered and processed, an objective definition is the first step in every project report . Your objective should provide precise directions. Think about the purpose you want your project report to fulfill.

Here are a few examples of project report objectives:

• Applying for a new project.
• Asking for financial support.
• Monitoring the project’s progress.
• Identifying and managing risks.
• Managing costs and budgets.

The data depends on the time when the analysis is conducted

Pre- and post-analysis are performed when the project manager and stakeholders are interested in finding out if there is a difference in observations before and after the project’s completion.

Pre-post analysis methods vary from company to company, but they are widely used in almost every industry because of their ability to inform decision-makers correctly.

The pre-implementation analysis is a crucial pre-processing step that strives to gather data and requirements on a project to facilitate efficient planning.

The main objective is to collect functional requirements to create a technical description. This description should include a list of features (epics in backlog ) that summarize all the effort required to develop the project properly.

It is an essential first step in preventing any problems from developing later, such as a vague specification of requirements or specifying them too late. Pre-implementation analysis assists in identifying these components beforehand.

The project parameters that are vital to success are:

• Project life cycle

The life cycle as a project parameter depends on the formulation of the project goal. The goal of the project determines the expected result of the project. When forming a goal (both for a project and in strategic management), it is necessary to use the S.M.A.R.T principles:

• Measurable.
• Time-related.

The duration of the life cycle, the cost of the project, and the evaluation of its effectiveness depend on how specifically the goal of the project is formulated.

For example, it is impossible to set the opening of a bank branch in city X as a project goal. This formulation does not define an event that corresponds to achieving the project goal.

The correct wording would be opening the branch and achieving a certain number of deposits from the local population.

The life cycle of a project is understood as a timeline from the moment the idea of a project is born to the moment the project goal is achieved. It is necessary to distinguish between the project life cycle and the  product life cycle . The  product  life cycle can be much longer than the project life cycle.

The typical duration of project life cycles in different industries varies depending on the industry in which projects are implemented:

• Infrastructure projects – 25 years.
• Energy projects – 15 years.
• Common machine building – 8 years.
• IT and high technology – 4 years.
• Project environment

The project is implemented in a specific external project environment.

The external environment is understood as a set of macroeconomic, political, legislative, and natural factors that influence the parameters and characteristics of a project and determine its external risks and the necessary adaptation tools.

The system of interaction with project stakeholders also applies to environmental factors.

The internal environment of the project refers to a set of factors that characterize the business management system of the company implementing the project and the adopted project management system.

• Business management process

The business process of the project initiator during a project’s life cycle includes the following stages of work:

• Project initiation, development of project documentation, work, and event planning.
• Project analysis and justification of its effectiveness and investment attractiveness; development of a business management plan.
• Searching for investors and creditors, forming a group of project stakeholders, and choosing a form of project financing.
• Arranging to finance, signing contracts.
• Project implementation.
• Project monitoring and settlements with creditors and investors.
• Achievement of the project goal and completion of the project.

Data analysis after a project has been “born” is equally, if not more important, than the “pre-party”. Most PPM software solutions, like PPM Express, are excellent at capturing project detail. But just capturing data points has limited strategic value.

Strategic value comes from turning data into reports that inform strategic decision-makers by illustrating the relationship between all an organization’s projects and their effect on resources and ultimately profitability.

To help teams working with projects ensure they are on time, within budget, and carried according to specifications, these questions must be answered:

• How does the plan compare with actual activities?
• Are we meeting milestones and deliverable dates?
• Are we exceeding planned budgets?
• What is the overall status, and where are the bottlenecks in the project?

Project management professionals live and die by project status reports that track these issues. There is a common thread that ties these reports together.

Singly and together, projects affect organizations’ strategic objectives.

A broader view of project management analysis can provide a wealth of information to turn projects into strategic activities that elevate organizations.

How to create a comprehensive project report

After collecting the data, we need to create a report. Firstly, the project report must increase a reader’s understanding while requiring minimal work.

Along with explaining its findings, it must also discuss how those findings affect the organization’s operations.

Regardless of the type of PPM report you’re writing, the information will vary, but keeping your report ordered will help the reader follow through without skipping any important details.

Create sections for your data and content so all stakeholders can easily refer to them. Consider including some of the project portfolio report elements listed below:

#1 Executive Summary

This brief description should include each report’s key conclusions, enabling the reader to comprehend the substance of the report without reading through all the project details.

#2 Project Progress

Actual metrics monitor the progress of your project in this section. It identifies potential risks or problems while assessing the project’s status and budget. It helps management and stakeholders reflect on the project schedule and make necessary amendments.

This section gives a thorough description of how your budget was distributed, taking into account supplies, labor, and operating expenses.

#4 Resources

Resources could be the equipment, supplies, or even the money needed to finish your project. Describe your present resource allocation in detail.

#5 Team Performance

Determine the team’s progress and compare their performance to their original objectives.

#6 Risk Management

Include a comprehensive risk analysis, your suggested fixes, and an explanation of how these additional components will impact the project.

#7 Timelines

Include an overview of tasks that have already been completed and a comprehensive schedule of remaining tasks.

#8 Conclusion

The various parts of your report should be brought together in your conclusion and direct your reader toward any necessary activities or next steps.

Writing a report is an effective way to assess a project, record the takeaways learned, and broaden your organization’s knowledge base for future projects. To write better project reports, try these methods:

1. Decide the objective

Spend some time considering the report’s goal. Engaging your reader is simpler when you are focused and have a clear aim from the beginning.

2. Understand your audience

Writing a financial review for your stakeholders is very different from writing a formal yearly report. Consider the audience when choosing your language, data utilization, and accompanying visuals.

It’s also a good idea to think about how your reader prefers to communicate – for instance, how they format emails and documents. Where possible, reflect their preferences.

You may need to develop a more formal or informal tone than your natural style.

Using this method can help you establish a connection with the reader and increase their openness to your thoughts.

3. Report format and type

Check the report’s format and type before you start. Do you have to give a presentation or submit a written report? Do you need to write a formal, informal, technical, investigative, fact-finding, financial, annual, or problem-solving report?

Check to see whether the company has any templates available as well. Being sure of these details now can save time later.

4. Gather facts and data

Including engaging facts and data will strengthen your case.

Start with the location of your collaborative project, then adjust as necessary. Remember to reference papers, case studies, and interviews as sources.

5. Structure the report

Typically, a report contains four components:

5.1 An executive summary will come first after the report is complete. 

5.2 An introduction sets the report’s context and describes its structure.

5.3 The body includes background information, an analysis, a discussion, and some recommendations.

5.4 The conclusion puts all the report’s components together clearly and succinctly.

6. Readability

Spend some time making the report easy to read and engaging. The Navigation pane in Word is a fantastic tool for assisting your reader as they navigate the document. Use formatting, images, and lists to break up long sections of text.

It is uncommon for a report to have a flawless first draft. Therefore, you will need to edit and modify the content. If feasible, wait a few days before evaluating the document or ask a coworker to do so.

What to choose: manual or automated report?

Manual report production has long been the industry standard, despite advances in software applications, but there are numerous reasons to stop producing reports manually.

Various factors constrain people who develop and analyze manual reports in the contemporary business world. First, it’s critical to comprehend how manual reports constrain decision-making for report authors and audiences.

All businesses must follow the essential management reporting procedure, which helps provide decision-makers with crucial information.

The data gathered during the reporting process supports management in creating strategies to either realign the company with its goals or verify the methods implemented to achieve them.

The limitations of manual reporting can be summed up in a few basic ways:

• Data validation is prioritized over data analysis in manual reporting.

Typically, reports are created in Excel and presented in static form using PowerPoint or similar. This necessitates several layers of manual data input, which requires manual review processes. Management is overloaded with data validation, which prevents them from conducting data analysis.

• Manual reporting uses many resources.

Manually creating project portfolio reports increases the need for resources to carry out data collection, entry, and validation. As a result, there is a greater need to hire more people or install new systems.

Project managers and PMOs can save resources thanks to automated reporting, prioritizing analysis over creation and validation.

• Manual reporting takes a lot of time.

Handling data using many technologies and manually producing reports wastes time.

The time that could be spent making crucial and timely decisions is instead spent evaluating and assembling data into short slide decks.

The reasons mentioned above serve as an overview of how manual reporting restricts decision-making ability. Indeed, manual reporting is not only less effective but also dangerous for a variety of reasons.

Automated project portfolio reporting helps reduce the risk of reporting errors resulting from transposition mistakes or review point breakdowns. Systems that automate reporting include built-in procedures to facilitate quick data checking instead of manually processing redundant information.

Manual data manipulation in Excel comes with a wide range of restrictions and risks. Aside from transposition mistakes, other factors contributing to inaccurate or out-of-date information in reports include formula breaks, close data linkages, and version control issues.

Modern automated reporting software like PPM Express and Microsoft Power BI allows users to build easy-to-read dashboards that reflect real-time KPIs.

This eliminates the need to transform raw data into visual representations before presenting it to management in a final report. Instead, it automatically provides data more comprehensibly and attractively.

Finally, automated reporting saves time by reducing the need for manual report creation and focusing users’ efforts on analysis. Manual reporting does not offer this value-add.

How to take project portfolio analysis and report creation to the next level

Even though successful organizations must adapt to new circumstances, they continually ensure that their project decisions align with company strategies.

Project portfolio analysis enables intelligent analysis rather than letting pet projects and products that don’t satisfy requirements to overtake others on the priority list. The most valuable products rise to the top as a result.

Organizations require data to make these informed decisions, and data is more readily available as product portfolio management cycles become connected.

Every organization is in danger due to siloed, inaccurate, or incomplete data, which also slows growth rates down and affects the market position.

Gartner says, “Siloed portfolios can’t work in isolation to provide the organization with a true picture of performance .”

However, organizations need a strong intelligence layer to help them prioritize the right products, adjust to change, and remain competitive. This intelligence is created by reliable, connected data that can be continuously examined in real-time.

To evolve from basic reports to true project analysis, you must consolidate and organize data across all projects from all project management platforms.

Project analysis needs the same ground-level data — time sheets, budget records, plans, and schedules.

But project analysis needs it for all projects in progress. For analysis to have strategic value, executives and project managers need to have the ability to see the workloads and resources assigned to multiple projects.

A consolidated view of that information enables project stakeholders to:

• Assess the viability of projects within a portfolio by connecting all project management tools provided by PPM solutions like PPM Express.
• Decide whether projects are meeting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
• Provide clients with access to relevant data to check their projects’ progress.

To effectively merge data analysis into project management, companies must be able to mine all the information entered into both unstructured data sources (documents, spreadsheets, and email) and structured sources (such as a project database).

PPM systems with limited features force project managers to make decisions based on partial information. This is sometimes called “guesstimation” or “project tunnel vision.” And it is dangerous.

Tunnel vision is more than just a lack of data and limited reporting. Tunnel vision syndrome begins with the people and culture behind the running of projects. Many project management organizations work reactively.

Strategic project management concepts are new to most organizations, and many must prepare to move to a strategic mindset.

This shift can only begin by adopting a platform like PPM Express. This complete toolkit provides a full set of data for evaluating the current state of projects from all project management tools to develop a plan of action to take your projects to the next level.

To develop solid business management and analysis strategy, project management professionals need to ask themselves the following questions:

• How accessible is the project data? Is data siloed or centralized?
• What primary components need to be assessed across all projects? Is it resource-driven? Is it budget-driven?
• What are the organization’s goals and targets? Does it have defined KPIs in place? How will they be measured?
• What is their risk management strategy? What kind of tools do they have in place to conduct a “what-if” analysis?

Turning project management into a strategic asset means including analysis in PPM and governance frameworks.

A well-thought-out governance framework and a PPM strategy are crucial steps in identifying what metrics and analysis are needed to improve project performance.

PPM Express makes long-term and short-term reporting easier with Power BI. It is explicitly designed to accommodate the need of PMOs and executives for portfolio transparency and flexibility.

As a SaaS platform, PPM Express equips an organization with complete portfolio and project visibility by aggregating project-related information across groups, portfolios, and systems.

PPM Express connects all project data in the cloud – terms, progress, and performance indicators are all combined into one comprehensive picture from Azure DevOps Boards, Microsoft Project Online , Desktop, MS Planner, Jira Software , and Smartsheet .

Synchronizing your data in PPM Express and 150+ Power BI prepared reports for an entire portfolio will help you track and mitigate risks, coordinate budget and schedule resources, and separate access specialists in the organization management in one single source of truth.

You can get a better understanding of how your projects and portfolios progress with the PPM Express reporting suite with 150+ Power BI reports that give a thorough picture of all project statuses, including risks, resources, issues, and milestones, as well as information on epics, stories, features, and project financials.

PPM Express  transforms your business management processes by giving users valuable insights into the overall performance and valid indicators of changes in budget baseline, schedule, performance, and development parameters.

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Report: Date announced for annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout between Xavier, UC

Cincinnati's biggest day of college basketball has a date for the 2024-25 season.

According to a report from CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, the Crosstown Shootout will be played on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Fifth Third Arena between Xavier and Cincinnati.

December brings the 92nd meeting between Xavier and UC. The Bearcats lead the all-time series, 51-40. Xavier has won five consecutive games in the rivalry after pulling out an 84-79 win at Cintas Center last season .

"It’s the biggest game on our schedule. It’s the most meaningful game to our fans, former players and students," Xavier head coach Sean Miller said leading up to last season's matchup.

UC has not won at Xavier since 2001 and the Bearcats' last victory in the rivalry was in 2018 at Fifth Third Arena .

Xavier's Miller is 5-2 all-time in The Shootout while UC head coach Wes Miller is searching for his first win over the Musketeers (0-3).

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‘What’s Next?’ for Kate Grusky: A Journey of Purpose and Philanthropy at UVA Darden

By David Buie-Moltz

As the University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares to graduate its Class of 2024, Kate Grusky is ready to embark on a new chapter, transitioning from managing multimillion-dollar portfolios on behalf of multi-family office clients to investing on behalf of a major hospital system’s endowment. Her story is a testament to the power of a Darden education and the doors it opens.

Raised in Harrison, New York, Grusky pursued a double major in history and Latin American studies at Brown University. Reflecting on her time after graduation, Grusky recalls, “I was eager to engage in something fast-paced and intellectually challenging.” This drive led her to a significant role at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., where she began in client services before transitioning to the investment team — a first for the firm.

Choosing Darden was a strategic decision influenced by her desire to deepen her financial expertise and engage in a learning method that promotes active participation. “The quality of education and the case method drew me in,” says Grusky, who also benefited from the supportive environment and the Oculus Fellowship . This fellowship wasn’t just a means of financial support but a gateway into a community of visionary leaders, enhancing her educational journey at Darden.

In her roles as vice president of communications for the Graduate Women in Business and vice president of finance for the Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club , Grusky significantly shaped her and her peers’ experiences. She was also active in the community; she served as a board fellow for Live Arts, a community theater in Charlottesville, through Darden’s Net Impact Board Fellows Program. This role allowed her to gain insights into board governance while contributing to the arts, a personal passion.

Her decision to contribute to the Second Year Class Gift — a tradition where the graduating class makes a financial commitment to the School — was especially significant. “Darden has given me a lot, both financially and in terms of career preparation,” Grusky says. “Contributing to the class gift was my way of giving back.”

Looking ahead, Grusky is excited about her future role as an investor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she will manage a globally diversified portfolio on behalf of the endowment. “I’m excited to contribute to fields that align with my values,” she says.

Stay tuned for more inspiring stories in our four-part series, “What’s Next?” Discover how Darden shapes the future of its graduates and read about other remarkable stories from the Class of 2024.

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 18,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Social Security's 2024 Trustees Report Is a Good News/Bad News Situation for Retirees

May 12, 2024 — 04:47 am EDT

Written by Maurie Backman for The Motley Fool  ->

Social Security serves as a key income source for millions of retired Americans. Without those benefits, many seniors would struggle to cover even basic expenses like housing and food.

Each year, the Social Security Trustees release a report that reviews the state of the program's finances. This year's report contains some unfortunate news for seniors. However, the news also isn't totally bleak.

Image source: Getty Images.

The bad news: Benefit cuts may be coming

Social Security gets most of its funding from taxing wages. But as older workers wrap up their careers in the coming years and make a fairly rapid labor force exit, payroll tax revenue is likely to shrink.

Social Security can turn to its trust funds to keep up with scheduled benefit payments in the absence of adequate payroll tax revenue. (Think of those trust funds as the program's emergency fund of sorts.) But once those trust funds are depleted, Social Security may have to cut benefits -- unless lawmakers are able to come up with a way to prevent that unwanted scenario.

To be clear, lawmakers are invested in preventing Social Security cuts. But many of the solutions they've proposed to avoid them have negative repercussions of their own.

One suggestion, for example, is to push back full retirement age (FRA) for workers born in 1960 or later from 67 to 68 or 69. FRA is when workers can claim their complete monthly Social Security benefit based on their individual wage histories. Moving FRA back could help the program's finances, but it would also force a lot of people to work longer than they want to.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Social Security Trustees Report states that the program's combined trust funds are likely to run out of money in 2035. Once that happens, benefit cuts may be unavoidable.

The good news: Benefit cuts might happen later and may be smaller than anticipated

Clearly, any sentence with the words "Social Security cuts" in it is going to be bad news to some degree. But let's look at the silver lining in the latest Trustees Report.

First, previous estimates had Social Security's trust funds running dry in 2034. This year's report pushes that depletion date back a year, which gives current retirees who are heavily dependent on Social Security more time to adjust their spending and try to build savings to make up for future cuts.

Second, this year's Trustees Report projects that come 2035, Social Security will still be able to keep up with 83% of scheduled benefits. Clearly, that's not as good as 100%, but it's worth noting that previous estimates have called for benefit cuts of 20% or more. A 17% reduction sounds much better in that context.

Use your heads-up to your advantage

In an ideal world, Social Security wouldn't be facing benefit cuts . But unfortunately, the program is in a precarious financial situation. And if lawmakers don't act soon, benefit cuts may be inevitable.

The best thing to do, therefore, is assume that those cuts will happen and adjust your retirement plans accordingly. While that's not necessarily an easy thing to do, you at least have an 11-year window to rise to the challenge.

If you're still working, increase your 401(k) or IRA contributions by $50 a month this year, $100 a month next year, and so forth as you're able to. And if you're 50 or older, try to take advantage of catch-up contributions.

If you're already retired, cutting a few expenses could lead to modest savings. And joining the gig economy could put a more substantial amount of extra cash in your pocket that you can bank for a day when your Social Security checks shrink.

It's definitely a hard thing to see a so-called guaranteed monthly benefit get taken away to some degree. But use your heads-up to your advantage so your finances aren't completely thrown for a loop come 2035.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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The coming week is OPEX (options expiration week) in May. This has been one of the less bullish such weeks among the 12 months in any year since 1985. A market consolidation is expected in the week followed by a rally into the end of the month. June appears bearish. A down June would complete the second quarter correction.

Applied Materials Applied Materials reports after the bell on Thursday. The stock is highly-ranked for relative strength and seasonality. Let us look further. The stock is near a new high in relative strength. Monthly, the stock is overbought but the oscillator is turning up. The accurate monthly cycle is rising. There have been 4 buy and 4 sell signals in the last year and each has been profitable. Anticipate a share price closer to $220 over the near term.

Applied Material Daily, Weekly, Monthly

The stock is due to rise.

Applied Material Monthly Cycle

This cycle will propel the stock higher.

Walmart also reports this week and it appears likely the report will be met with buying. Relative strength has been rising since December. Seasonality is favorable. From May 17 th to July 20 th , the shares have risen 77% of the time over 44 years. The monthly cycle rises through 2024. This cycle has been profitable in all three signals this year. The share price could rise to $70 or higher.

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Walmart Walmart Daily, Weekly, Monthly

The stock has a large relative strength base.

Walmart Monthly Cycle

The cycle rises through 2024.

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