This article argues for the differentiation according to timescales of aspects of writer identity. It presents a framework for investigating the discoursal construction of writer identity that develops the categories proposed by Ivanic in two ways. First, it distinguishes aspects of writer identity according to the timescales over which they develop; second, it proposes interrelationships among the different aspects. The authors demonstrate the relevance of this framework for understanding how identity is constructed and changed through acts of writing by using it to interpret data drawn from a study of writing in adult literacy education in England. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table and 1 note.)