How Google Docs Can Help Organize Your Writing Portfolio

Whether you’re a student building a writing portfolio for college applications or a professional writer keeping samples of published clips, having an organized collection of writing samples is essential. Google Docs offers powerful yet easy-to-use tools to help you build and manage a writing portfolio without the hassle of keeping track of multiple Word documents or paper copies.

In this blog post, we’ll walk through step-by-step how to use Google Docs to organize writing samples into a professional portfolio.

Set Up a Dedicated Google Drive Folder

The first step is to create a new folder in Google Drive that will contain all your writing portfolio documents.

Why Use a Dedicated Folder

• Keeps all files neatly in one place instead of mixed in with other Drive contents
• Lets you easily share the entire portfolio by sharing the folder
• Enables quick search of the portfolio contents using Google Drive search

How to Create a New Folder

1. Open Google Drive
2. Click the New button and select Folder
3. Name the folder something like “Writing Portfolio”
4. Click Create

Now you have a central location to add and manage portfolio documents.

Organize with Subfolders

To keep a larger portfolio organized, create subfolders within the main “Writing Portfolio” folder:

Common Subfolders

• By Author Name
• By Writing Type (essays, articles, creative writing etc.)
• By Publication Status (drafts, published pieces, submissions)
• By Date or Year

How to Make Subfolders

1. Right-click on the main portfolio folder
2. Choose New folder
3. Name the subfolder
4. Repeat to make additional subfolders as needed

Properly organized subfolders make it easy to navigate your portfolio.

Upload Writing Samples

With your Google Drive structure set up, it’s time to add writing samples. The easiest way is to upload existing files into the appropriate subfolders.

Supported File Types

Google Drive supports common file types like:

• Microsoft Word – .doc and .docx
• Plain text – .txt
• Adobe PDF – .pdf

So you can directly upload those file types. For other files like .pages or .odt, you may need to first export or convert to a compatible format.

How to Upload Files

1. Open the target subfolder
2. Click the New button and choose File Upload
3. Select the file(s) from your computer to upload
4. Repeat for additional documents

Now your writing samples are securely stored in Google Drive!

Create New Docs Directly in Drive

Along with uploading existing files, you can add new portfolio pieces by creating Google Docs directly in Drive.

Advantages of Native Google Docs

• Supports real-time collaboration for co-authoring
• Includes built-in editing and formatting tools
• Allows direct sharing of Doc links for easy access

How to Create New Docs

1. Navigate to the target subfolder
2. Click the New button and choose Google Docs
3. Name the doc and start typing!
4. Use Docs formatting tools to style headings, text, lists, etc.

With practice, you can produce portfolio-ready pieces quickly inside Google Drive.

Share Your Portfolio

Once your writing portfolio is organized in Google Drive, the final step is sharing it. The cloud-based system enables you to securely share docs and folders with colleges, publishers or other interested parties.

Sharing Options

• Share read-only access
• Allow commenting for feedback
• Make fully collaborative to enable co-editing
• Customize sharing settings for each individual piece

How to Share the Portfolio

1. Select the main portfolio folder
2. Click the Share button
3. Enter the emails to share with
4. Choose access level from the dropdown

Now your portfolio can be easily accessed by anyone you choose to share with!

Conclusion