Dwight V. Swain

Born in Rochester, Michigan, Dwight V. Swain was an American author, screenwriter, and teacher. He published fiction in several popular genres, including science fiction, mystery, Westerns, and action-adventure, and later became widely known for writing about the craft of storytelling.

He spent more than twenty years teaching in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Oklahoma. That classroom experience helped shape the clear, practical approach found in his best-known nonfiction books, especially Techniques of the Selling Writer and Creating Characters: How to Build Story People.

Swain was inducted into the Oklahoma Professional Writers Hall of Fame in 1991. He died on February 24, 1992, but his advice on scenes, motivation, and story structure still has a strong following among working writers and aspiring novelists.