For me, it's always a nice moment when, while preparing for a writing project, I have a firm idea for the first time of what the overall concept of my text should look like in the end. From then on, I know - at least roughly - what tasks I need to complete until the deadline. What I often don't know is: What should I start with? Especially in the early stages of a writing project, when you see all your work goals unfinished in front of you, it's not uncommon for a feeling of being overwhelmed to creep in, e.g., thinking, "How am I supposed to get all this done in the editing time?" - It's clear that you can't tackle everything at once, so there's only one thing that helps here: set priorities!

Setting priorities in your own writing process can be difficult. There are countless ways to coordinate the various work steps, and everyone has to figure out the best approach for themselves. Only you know which steps or text sections are the most important for your writing project and therefore require the most or immediate attention. In the same way, there are always less urgent things that can be worked on or incorporated at the end, if there is still enough time. Therefore, each priority is linked to a decision, each of which can feel as if it were entirely responsible for the success of the writing project. Naturally, then, one sometimes shies away from putting the completion of one task on the back burner in favor of another.

However, exactly these decisions are important in order not to spend too long on the completion of smaller side tasks and to have enough time for the essential things. A plan must be made! After all, all work phases have to be accommodated in the processing period and, at best, there should even be a buffer left until the submission date. Official deadlines and self-imposed deadlines are a good first orientation for any work plan. After all, time is a valuable commodity and the earlier you know how you want to fill it, the more efficiently you can use it.

Setting priorities made easy

Writing often results in a very individual hierarchy of tasks, because individual steps or thoughts build on each other. If this step is difficult, it can help to imagine the writing process as a kind of "journey" that you want to tell a friend about step by step. In doing so, one should always keep in mind what information is the prerequisite for others so that the friend can mentally follow the narrative. Thinking about an order for completing work tasks can therefore be useful, on the one hand, to better structure the work process and, on the other hand, helpful to become aware of one's own progress. If you systematically follow a sequence, you will be able to check off items at some point, which might not happen if you continue to work a little bit everywhere at the same time. Finding a suitable way for your own individual way of working takes practice. But these experiences can help in other contexts afterwards. Being able to set priorities and being aware of them often helps to make personal working time as efficient and pleasant as possible.

So for me, one thing is certain: setting priorities is indispensable! If time runs out at some point, you'll do it anyway. It's better to get an overview as early as possible of which tasks and work steps are the most important and by when they should ideally be completed. This way, the work process retains its structure and you keep the focus on what is important in your own writing project. And in doing so, you get used to something important for life: Making decisions.

You can receive individual support in finding decisions for your priorities in the writing process in the writing consultation. If you find it difficult to set priorities in general, then take a look at the workshop program of the project "Schlüsselkompetenzen@TUD" at the Career Service, where you will find methods for setting priorities, among other things, in workshops for more structure in your studies and for easier decision-making. And if you are looking for a workshop on topics such as the writing process or writing time management, take a look at the workshops offered by the Writing Center and SLUB on OPAL.

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Tobias Dittrich

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This post appeared on the occasion of the October 2022 Writing Center Newsletter. This and other newsletter issues are linked in the Writing Center Newsletter Archive.

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The Writing Center of the TU Dresden (SZD) supports students and lecturers with offers for planning and writing various texts in studies such as vouchers, protocols, seminar papers and theses and for teaching academic writing in teaching and supervision. All information about offers and possibilities of support can be found in the areas for students and teachers.

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