I'm trying to build a portfolio template for a writer's portfolio, and I'm having trouble finding an effective way to present so much text. Most portfolio sites have the benefit of (hopefully) gorgeous imagery to guide the user, and thumbnails are natural "previews" that allow you to scan quickly over the entire portfolio.
Text doesn't have the same ability - I could try grabbing a sentence or two out of context, but with no input from the writer himself (one of my constraints), I would have to grab random snippets, which would probably make no sense.
Any ideas/suggestions on how to present a pure text portfolio in a compelling and user-friendly experience?
Update
I think I wasn't very clear in my question - I'm working on a template for a writer's portfolio, not my own portfolio. It is all generated programmatically by the backend, the only data I have access to is the text itself, and some popularity metrics. So I can't write out goals, solutions, etc.
My first thought was to show the portfolio entries as objects (thumbnails, panes, whatever) whose size relates to the popularity of that piece.
In many ways, I think this might be something of an information visualization problem.