I write stories about urban characters who find themselves in tough situations. The stories show how the characters handle the problems / issues they encounter, or how the problems / issues they encounter handle them. Although I’m a new author, I’ve been asked how I go about choosing a story to write. To this point, the stories seem to jump into my mind.

While writing, I like to flesh out each of the primary characters in the story. This leads to multiple plot lines for each story. Another question I’ve been asked is, “if you grew up in small town USA, why are your characters based in urban America? The answer to this question is simple, I got a view of urban America at a young age. In my mind, the stories and story lines about small town America do not offer the diversity needed to write multiple books.

There’s only so much you can write about when your story is set in a city of 100,00 to 200,000 people. Change the setting to a million people or larger and the story literally becomes your oyster. Another reason is people tend to want to read stories set in urban areas. I’m going to write a crime who dun it. This might allow me to base a story in a small town. Another reason it is harder for me to write about small town USA, most people know each other.

This cripples the story because you do not have the range to write as you would with characters who do not know each other. It also opens another issue / problem, the limits / restraints this places on the story. An example is, imagine love scenes between cousins!!! Ewww, get the picture? Some people might find this intriguing, but it’s where I draw the line. I’ve been asked, “what can we expect from your writing in the future? I’ve ventured into writing screenplays.

My second novel, “Taking Flight”, by the time it is available for sale, the screenplay will have been completed. I had a lot of fun working on this. Writing a book gives you room to elaborate. Writing a screenplay requires you to be short and succinct. As a result of this space constraint, some of my favorite scenes in the “Taking Flight” book, did not make it into the screenplay. After completing “Taking Flight” I thought about what I liked most about the sequel to the back story.

Without giving too much of the story away, the growth of protagonist Carl Allen Hampton is one of my favorite parts of the sequel. I believe this story shows the ease with which good people can go bad. Most of the feedback I’ve received from “The Back Story” has blown my hair back. I thought Carl Allen was a decent guy. According to the feedback I’ve received, he’s the guy that you love to hate! The first couple of times I heard this, threw me for a loop!

I want to thank everyone for the support you have shown me to this point in my writing career. It is especially important to me that you like the product I’m producing. If you want to give me feedback, vkwhitfield01@gmail.com is my email. For a second way to reach me, @victorwhitfield is my Twitter handle. I answer all shout outs.