diff --git a/include/Athena/BinaryWriter.hpp b/include/Athena/BinaryWriter.hpp
index dca0337..f7a6f1d 100644
--- a/include/Athena/BinaryWriter.hpp
+++ b/include/Athena/BinaryWriter.hpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public:
      *   \param data The existing buffer
      *   \param length The length of the existing buffer
      */
-    BinaryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length);
+    explicit BinaryWriter(atUint8* data = nullptr, atUint64 length=0x10);
 
     /*! \brief This constructor creates an instance from a file on disk.
      *
diff --git a/src/Athena/BinaryWriter.cpp b/src/Athena/BinaryWriter.cpp
index 4f42bb0..e95f0d3 100644
--- a/src/Athena/BinaryWriter.cpp
+++ b/src/Athena/BinaryWriter.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@ BinaryWriter::BinaryWriter(atUint8* data, atUint64 length)
       m_bitPosition(0),
       m_endian(Endian::LittleEndian),
       m_progressCallback(nullptr)
-{}
+{
+    if (!m_data)
+        m_data = new atUint8[m_length];
+}
 
 BinaryWriter::BinaryWriter(const std::string& filename, std::function<void(int)> progressFun)
     : m_length(0),