How to Plan Your Writing Before You Start Typing (And Save Time)
Starting to type immediately can feel productive, but it often creates a different problem: students discover halfway through the response that they do not know where the argument or story is going.
A short planning period can actually save time.
For persuasive writing, identify:
Position → Argument 1 → Argument 2 → Argument 3 → Conclusion.
Write only keywords.
For narrative writing, identify:
Character → Setting → Problem → Turning point → Resolution.
Again, avoid writing complete sentences during the planning stage.
Planning helps prevent repetition and gives each paragraph or scene a clear purpose.
For digital assessments, planning is particularly useful because typing can encourage students to keep adding ideas without considering structure.
A strong plan should answer three questions:
What am I saying?
Why does it matter?
What evidence, example or event will develop it?
Do not spend ten minutes creating a beautiful plan. The purpose is to establish direction quickly.
A practical approach is:
Brainstorm → Select → Sequence → Write.
Once the plan is complete, writing becomes a process of developing ideas rather than inventing the structure sentence by sentence.
Students should practise planning under time constraints so that it becomes automatic.
The ultimate benefit is not simply saving a few minutes. A good plan improves coherence, paragraph structure, idea development and overall control, making the final response easier to write and easier for the marker to follow.