RT Action Network Member: William Ivor Fowkes

In early 2020 I began an experiment in mutual cooperation and career accountability. I'd noticed that many of the creative folk in my workshops had to contend with a lot of fear, uncertainty, indecision and isolation and that all these were undermining what should have been a steady forward momentum in their careers. These were seriously talented people who more often than not found themselves slightly paralyzed by not knowing which next steps for a given project made the most sense. I've always believed that when we form coalitions when we offer help to friends we respect and enjoy, everyone benefits tremendously. So I started the Roland Tec Action Network. Based on the simplest premise: going it alone is ten times as difficult and feels lousy too. Each month the 9 members of RTAN meet for a Saturday morning accountability and business brainstorming session. Members are encouraged to share whatever's challenging them most that day. And a couple weeks later we gather on a Friday evening to share work and further bond as artists. Now, the accountability part of this equation has a new home online in a private forum that allows members to post project goals each month and solicit the input of colleagues. In April, RTAN celebrated its first year of existence. And I decided to ask the current members what the Action Network has meant for each of them. For the next few weeks I'll be posting some of their answers. 
- Roland Tec

William Ivor Fowkes

Having a monthly meeting at which we were held accountable for taking the steps we committed to at the previous meeting

helped keep me on track with the development of a new full-length play I was adapting from an unpublished novel I wrote several years ago. I completed the resulting play, ATTACHMENT, in about nine months, which is less time than it would otherwise have taken me to complete it. If, for example, I committed to writing two new scenes in the next month, I invariably completed those scenes--and usually more.

ATTACHMENT was adapted from a novel with many characters. Because of the pandemic, I knew it would be a long time before theaters would be interested in a play with a large cast, so I decided to adapt it as a two-character play. I believe the resulting play is stronger than a large-cast version would have been.

Right now, I’m working on expanding a 10-minute play--which is actually an excerpt from a full-length play--into a longer play, perhaps a long one-act, perhaps a full-length play. Once again, I’m adapting material from an unpublished novel (a different one). With the end of the pandemic in sight, I’m being less restrictive than I was with ATTACHMENT by letting myself add additional characters as needed. However, in light of continuing post-pandemic concerns about cast size and producibility, I’m working very hard at keeping the cast small by trying out different ways to make cast doubling practical and effective. 

Thanks, Roland!

To learn more about RTAN, visit our website. And to directly interact with current members, look for them in the LinkedIn Group, Roland Tec Making Space for Creatives.