Research and educational practice which seeks to improve classroom writing instruction and students’ skill in writing should take into account students’ motivation to write. Research regarding students’ motivation to write has largely focused on the impact of self-efficacy (SE) beliefs on writing motivation, however, the Expectancy-Value Theory (EVT) of motivation provides a framework for this study to examine not just students’ expectancies regarding writing, but also the reasons they may find writing valuable. This study focused on the ‘value’ subcomponent of EVT, using a questionnaire and interviews of high school students to identify factors which impact their perceived value of writing. Student responses indicated that value is found in classroom writing when it mirrors situations which are likely to occur outside of high school, helps students to develop skills that they see as having ‘real-world’ applications, helps students develop skills which they see as building social capital, or allows students to have autonomy over the content and form of their writing. EVT says that motivation is influenced by both an expectancy of success and how much the outcome of a task is valued, therefore factors that influence students’ value of a writing task may be used in a classroom to improve student motivation to write, even if students’ expectation of success is not high.