Over the last decade, a small body of SLA research has examined the effects of task planning on L2 production. This research has revealed positive results concerning the effect of pre-task and online planning on oral and written production. However, no studies to date have investigated the joint effects of pre-task and online planning. In addition, relatively little research has explored the efficacy of planning in the context of written synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC), or text chat, which is a growing medium in which L2 learners use the target language. Accordingly, this study examined the joint effects of pre-task and online planning in a written SCMC environment. The researcher chatted individually on a picture-based narrative task with thirty ESL learners. With one group, this chat was preceded by strategic planning. With the other group, there was no strategic planning. Both groups were allowed unlimited online planning time for task completion. Chat production was coded and was measured in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Findings did not suggest any advantage for strategic planning across the three variables when unlimited online planning time was available. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure and 11 notes.)