Portfolio Center Blog Portfolio Center Blog: Portfolio Spotlight: Anna Louise Neiger, Fiction Writer
The key word in "portfolio development" is development. Please know that for many students it takes a little time and a whole lot of patience to get your best work into an organized, professional format. Two of your best friends in this process (if you so choose) can be a portfolio development class and Web Agent. Soon to be graduate Anna Louise Neiger was lucky enough to utilize both and got her best fiction writing work online before graduation.
[Screen shot taken from Anna's website.]
PC: What type of work do you do?
ALN: I am a writer, currently working on a novel (or two) and about a million short stories. I also do technical writing for Cybertechnology, LLC and intern at Featherproof Books.
PC: How are you showcasing or promoting your work?
ALN: I use my online portfolio as a way to show people samples, but I also submit my work to readings and journals. You have to be really proactive with writing if you want to get anywhere!
PC: What type of information or samples are in your portfolio?
ALN: My portfolio mostly consists of writing samples-- a fictional short story, a creative non-fiction short story and an excerpt from my novel. I also included "extras" like a link to my blog and my twitter page.
PC: How did you decide which work to include in your portfolio?
ALN: Thankfully, I was in Marcia Brenner's "Writer's Portfolio" class, which is offered to Fiction Majors. That helped me hone each piece and really think about what I wanted potential employers to see. So I picked one piece of each kind (fiction, non-fiction, novel) of stuff that I typically work on. I was hoping to showcase my versatility, let people know that I don't just write one way. Soon, I'd like to be able to include technical writing clips, maybe a few journalistic clips.
PC: Why do you think promoting your work online is important?
ALN: The internet is quickly becoming prominent in many professional fields. With publishing and writing, the online market is expanding faster than you can blink. Having my work online makes it accessible to a lot more people than if I just had it stashed under my bed or saved on my computer and it never went anywhere. Almost everyone has their own website these days, so I jumped at the chance to utilize the tools offered by the Portfolio Center to create my own site.
PC: Anything else you think students should know before putting their portfolio together?
ALN: Put some thought into what you want up on your site, how you want it laid out, and what you want a user to feel when they look at your site--what kind of "mood" you want to convey about yourself and your work. It can be a really fun, exciting process! Also, don't feel weird about asking questions you might think are stupid or obvious. This is YOUR professional work, you want it to look good, so do what you have to to make that happen!