Working within the framework of language learner strategies, and more specifically strategies employed by L2 writers, this article presents findings from a qualitative, longitudinal study of seven international college students in the United States. On the basis of data comprising 54 interviews with the students over a period of four years, and over 100 samples of their written work, three questions are addressed: 1) What strategies did the students use to achieve writing success within their academic discourse community? 2) How did the writers' decisions to employ specific strategies reflect academic and other goals? 3) How did the students' uses of strategies over time reflect their evolving identities? Findings indicate that the students all used diverse strategic repertoires, and that their implementations of specific actions in specific contexts were reflective of unique goals and aspirations. By highlighting links among strategies, goals, and identities, this article proposes an understanding of advanced EAL writers as nimble, self-aware actors whose approaches to composing indicate not only their interests in developing new competencies in English, but also their desires to construct future selves.