This paper aims to show how an academic writing practice can facilitate character building to the student teachers of English education department of a private university in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The academic writing practice implemented the genre-based approach teaching stages. Two instruments were used to collect the data. First, an open-ended questionnaire filled by thirty-six students regarding their reflections on the academic writing practice. The data then analysed thematically. Second, the student’s writings. The researchers selected purposively two writings from a student teacher constructed in the diagnostic test and independent construction stage. The student’s writings were analysed by using functional grammar. The findings show that the academic writing practice can facilitate character building through the application of explicit teaching and group work throughout the teaching stages. The student’s writing constructed in the academic writing practice showed an improvement of the student’s academic writing knowledge, skills, and characters. The findings suggest that character building should be practised in any subjects across the university curriculum.