A case study of an adolescent girl provides a framework to understand what factors contribute to the development of a strong writer within an instant messaging world. The study shows instant messaging is one of a larger repertoire of practices. Facility in school-based writing was developed through a school culture that supported writing in the content areas, authentic purposes for writing, modeling by teachers who are members of the writing and arts community, and metacognitive awareness of authorial choices in lexicon, diction, voice, conventions, and mechanics when writing. The author uses the participant's educational experience to develop recommendations to help teachers address the concern of nonstandard conventions appearing in student writing.