This narrative inquiry explores the tension two preservice teachers experienced when designing writing curricula that underscored their writer identity. For the purposes of this article, I define writer identity as one's personal writing experiences, habits, and beliefs. I intentionally elicited stories from participants about their experiences as writing instructors, primarily during the semester they conducted their student teaching experiences. Consistent with narrative inquiry, stories in the article were the primary form of data collection via four semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed participants encountered unexpected tensions as writing instructors and were unprepared to navigate such situations. These tensions were present from the design of the writing curricula to the execution of their writing pedagogy. I anchor my discussion in the strategies teacher educators can provide to prepare preservice teachers to navigate unexpected tension, creating a more sophisticated teacher identity. Specifically, I identify the intentional work of writer identity development. I also draw from the literature to offer additional strategies preservice teachers can utilize to navigate these and similar unexpected tension. It is necessary to help preservice teachers navigate the tension they will likely encounter as teachers so they can flourish as writing instructors and effectively prepare today's English language arts students.