“What is…” is an occasional series of definitions related to freelance writing.

A profile is a nonfiction story that focuses on a single person. These are pieces of writing that highlight a person who is in the news or who has an interesting story. The New Yorker is famous for its profiles of the cultural elite (Lillian Ross’s profile on Ernest Hemingway is an absolute favorite), but most publications print profiles on occasion. A local newspaper might print a profile on the town busybody who’s trying to take down a popular mayor in the next election, while a student newspaper might print a profile on a professor doing fascinating research, such as coral research in the Caribbean.

As the name implies, profiles are not full-faced portraits. The point of the story is to capture what motivates this person – what makes them “tick” — without merely cataloguing their accomplishments. A profile should focus on some aspect of the person (their work as an innovator, their bravery in speaking out on a personal issue, etc.). Profiles need themes. And they attempt to dig beneath the surface to capture the subject complete with quirks and blemishes.

Image by Oberazzi