WRITING
What a Portfolio Needs Are Glue and Different Angles
Single stories need glue to stick together in a portfolio. And they need different angles to thicken the yummy bit.
Portfolio. I really think that we need to stick to our writing and create a fleshed-out portfolio before success will knock on our doors. Especially if we are writing more for impact and joy than as a getting-rich-quick-scheme.
Writing for money only always makes us compromise. My experiments on Medium are not about writing stories to please a superficial audience. So, I don’t compromise. I follow my own path. I want to make an impact.
But I do experiment with titles to attract the readers that could become my fans. And I do learn how to write my stories in a better structure. Enhance my storytelling quality. I experiment with words, with forms, with messages.
And I do use SEarch Engine Optimization (SEO) and social media cross-overs to attract more people to my stories. Why not? Why would I not dare to be successful with what I’m doing? So yes, the money is very welcome. But I won’t sell my soul to get there.
Recently, I wrote about my own results building a portfolio. How we can use the SEO-tools smartly and how we can make our writing better. How we can connect to others on this beautiful writing path and enjoy the journey.
Well, I received lots of reactions. And the overall feel I get is that we’re onto something. You are all building your portfolios, too. You are out there, writing and getting better and not being discouraged when your stats and earnings don’t show the results (yet). Good! Keep going.
In this story, I want to tell you about the glue and the thickening of our portfolios. And don’t worry, you don’t have to know exactly what the glue in your portfolio is yet. It will emerge while you are writing.
The Glue in Our Stories
When I started on my Medium path I didn’t exactly know what I would be writing about. Yes, I work in ecological sustainability. And I wanted to share about the Blue Economy and systemic thinking. First of all, I wanted to shed some light on business ways to approach nature-based solutions with multiple benefits for all species, not just humans.
So, I wrote my first story, became a member, applied for the Medium Partner Program, and started to earn a few cents. This is my first story.
To make a long story (May 2019-Sep 2020) short, I broadened my scope big time. I experimented with more rational stories. I experimented with emotional stories, and I connected dots with my stories.
For me, it’s very important that I can be completely me in my writing. I have been writing for business, I publish fiction stories. And here on Medium, I want to write about all things that fascinate me.
I’m a polymath. And I’m convinced that everybody who is having a curious attitude to life is exactly that. So I started out thinking that my portfolio would become a jungle of non-connectable pieces.
So, I experimented, all the time connecting to people on this platform and elsewhere. At one point, I even started writing poetry. Something I never envisioned doing, but I enjoy it tremendously!
So, this is what I mean with ‘you don’t know when you start out what the glue in your stories will be’. While I was experimenting and writing, I had no idea about glue. But it emerged.
In my case, the glue is Gaia, Mother Nature.
My rational stories about the environment and business have a strong nature-connection. I truly believe that we cannot repair our world if we will not take up our wise and modest human place as an intrinsic part of the ecosystems. We have to invent new economies and societies from that place.
My emotional stories are about rewilding our souls in concrete cities, compassionate leadership, and our broken world. And my fiction and poetry have a strong nature-connection as well. And of course, adding it all up, I write about my storytelling experience and marketing of my stories.
My glue emerged.
Here’s a path that might help you find your glue.
Broaden your scope and experiment for a while. In business terms, this is called divergence. Shubhangi Choudhary wrote about it from the viewpoint of design thinking. It is a great methodology and is applicable to finding your unique writer’s voice as well.
Make everything broader, read stories you would not read normally. Listen to music that would normally not fit your bill. Speak to people out of your comfort zone. And write in different styles than you would normally do.
Then take some time off. This is the convergence step in design thinking. Calm the thoughts in your head. Meditate for instance, or go running. Start gardening or baking cakes. It doesn’t have to take long before the puzzle pieces you didn’t connect thus far start shifting into place. They will connect.
I took 5 days off last week. No frantic writing. No publishing every day. Just enjoying the quiet space. My head became clear and my writing is now becoming more original again.
When you look at the full picture of your work so far, after a bit of time off, you see the glue emerge.
Of course, this path is different for everyone. I’m a systemic thinker already, so it might have been easier for me to connect all the dots. But you can do it, too. Given time, we will all become systemic thinkers. Try it. And I’m happy to hear about your experiences in the comments.
Thicken Our Portfolios
And then I received a comment from Joe Luca. He tells me, he’s on the portfolio path as well.
Joe said: “Another writer has been reading my thoughts. Now I’m starting to think that what it’s really missing, is more of the same.”
I was really touched by one of his stories the other day, so you might want to check him out. His response triggered me into writing this story.
More of the same.
He’s right of course. But I see too many writers who do that by writing a little bloggie piece, non-substantial. Sometimes adding the link to another story underneath. I don’t think that will add to a quality portfolio. So I want to show you another way. Sorry, girls and guys, we have to go full flow and add value in every story we write.
And there is a much better way available. Angles.
Freelance journalists do it all the time.
They write one story, based on an interview for instance. It gets published. Of course, they don’t want to plagiarize themselves. So they write another story with the same research material from a different angle. And pitch it to another magazine.
In my case, I wrote three different stories about a Building with Nature project I visited in Indonesia. And I took three different angles. The first had the angle of drinking water problems, the second showed a method I developed to look at problems systemically and the third featured the solutions with mangrove-reforestation and fish farming.
I used my own pictures to make it real. Honest. My experience. My stories.
And of course, my whole trip to Indonesia gave me lots of inspiration to write about many different angles for many different audiences. From island economies to the energy of money to Robin Hobb books about dragons.
So, Joe, I want to ask you to stay creative when writing more of the same. Look at your subject, your existing stories, your research from a different angle. Then write a completely new story. Going full flow again. It will make a beautiful, fleshed-out portfolio with lots of sticky glue that way.
And whoever feels the urge to connect, I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Or via one of my other social media. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, ManyStories.
Happy writing, enjoy building your portfolio!
Let me tag the people who commented on my first story about the portfolio. We’re onto something here, dear friends. Dr John Rose Liam Ireland Tree Langdon, CPA, CGA Dennett FILZA CHAUDHRY Lanu Pitan FCA, AMP, (Lagos Business School), CN Kaia Tingley 🌀 Elisabeth Khan Livia Dabs Rasheed Hooda Joe Luca Deborah Krulicki Amy Marley