Well-Grounded In Historical Fact - An Interview with Wes Loran

The 20th century called for great change around the world, but none more so than in the mighty United States of America. From mass oil-pumping to out-of-this-world space travel, the lives of American families were changed forever across just one generation.

For Wes Loran, this time-period offered the fertile ground to tell a monumental tale of perseverance, growth and resilience, based on the real-life story of his white farm laboring ancestor.

We spoke with Wes about his earlier, award-winning, writing experience, how he balanced historical fact and personal stories for his novel and if, from the very start, there was a greater story that he was aiming to tell.

Before we start discussing your new book, I wanted to mention your early writing experience and your scholarship winning submission to a national journalism society in high school. What can you remember about the piece you submitted?

In the spring of 1966, a high school editorial written by me called “Kaleidoscope” was submitted to the Quill and Scroll Society in America, which is focused on journalism. The piece was awarded a prize of $1,000 and in those days, it was enough to cover my living expenses for my first year at San Francisco State, which was a great help. Two years later, I transferred to UC Berkeley.

The piece focused on the adolescent angst of making decisions and whether to run away from them - suicide being the ultimate escape - or deal with them by connecting with life’s possibilities.

20th Century American is a throughoughly researched novel, building on people’s understanding of America’s rapid expansion in the early to mid-1900s. For your tale, did you take more influence from personal stories or from other books on the period?

Actually, family stories provided a wealth of material for the novel but at the same time they ultimately generated a need to be factual. As a person who has always loved history, it was always going to be my fate to tie fact and fiction together. The more you are well-grounded in historical fact, the more clarity you gain from real life experiences, as conveyed by family and friends. It’s all a critical matter of context.

Staying on the topic of research, your novel captures a society in the early beginnings of the modern age, but your novel also captures a deeply personal story in amongst the rapid growth and change. Was there one storyline or event that, from the very start, you knew you wanted to capture in your writing?

There was one storyline that provided the genesis for the entire novel. It was Carl’s loss of family and education amidst extreme poverty that underscored his heroic and resilient struggle. To set that stage, I had to delve into his family’s life prior to his birth. But everything that happened to him and all that he accomplished in his life against the odds flowed from this childhood loss and how he dealt with the consequences of that loss.

You’ve previously shared with us that you rewrote the final chapters of your novel many times, aiming to complete the arc of your story with a satisfying conclusion. What lessons from this specific process will help you when writing in the future? Is it necessary to plan ahead or do you prefer to see where the story leads you?

As temporarily frustrating as it was, I was finally satisfied with the ending after many attempts. I believe it was worth the extra time and effort from a creative standpoint.

What I have learned is that when writing a book, you must be patient with yourself and not rush the creative process. Quite frankly, too many writers spin a good story only to fall flat at the end. I don’t believe that was the case with me on 20th Century American. Taking the time and making the effort to arrive at the just-right conclusion for me as the author was the best path.

“What happens in the mind when we know we are slowly dying?” Answering that question about Carl allowed me to creatively explore the options to ending his story arc. I start with a story outline but let the telling of the story suggest what the ending should be like.

Finally, we’re excited to hear that you plan to continue writing about this consequential century in new instalments – following different families but continuing through to the 2000s. What can you share with readers at this early stage about your upcoming works?

The second book of the 20th Century American trilogy follows the lives of four baby boomers, two females and two males, as they navigate their childhoods, youth, and maturation years from the late 1940’s to 1981. The protagonists are from different economic, social and racial segments of American society, as they transit through the gilded 50s, the turbulent 60s and into the uncertain 70’s. The story arc ends with the swearing in of Ronald Reagan as President.

The third and final book will remain a mystery to you as it is still a mystery to me.

20th Century American: A Novel Based Upon a Real Life Lived is available now in paperback.