Abstarct: Although studies on writing English as a second or foreign language abound, there is a dearth of studies on exploring writing strategies in general and IELTS writing strategies in particular. This data-driven study aims at filling in this gap by uncovering the writing strategies used by a purposive sample of IELTS candidates who were found to score 7 or higher in IELTS writing task 2. The participants’ writing strategies and thought processes were elicited through retrospective think aloud and then conceptualized through thematic analysis. The credibility of the findings were established through the constant comparative technique and member checking. The final analysis, conceptualization and abstraction of the participants’ thought processes yielded a set of down-to-earth writing strategies covered by three major themes including ‘ensuring coverage and relevance’, ‘structuring’, ‘planning, revising and being aware of assessment criteria’. The findings of this study are significant since they provide the field of writing instruction with a set of data-driven strategies that complement the previously established theory-driven writing strategies and techniques