FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT. Warren Draper
The idea for the Doncopolitan magazine first emerged a couple of years ago when Doncaster was applying for their latest 'city bid' - a race between British towns where the Queen gets to convey the title of ‘city’ on a town of her choosing. It seemed evident to us that the first thing you needed to do if you wanted to be a city, was act like a city! If there’s one piece of advice that’s guaranteed to fair you well in life it is this: ‘Fake it until you make it.’ These are the wise words of the ‘Demon of Screamin’ himself, rock god, motor cycle designer and American Idol judge, Steven Tyler. Although it may sound like something out of a fortune cookie, this technique really does work.
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Next time you’re on the phone, fake a smile. You will actually sound happier and may also find yourself feeling more cheerful too! Martial artists practice their moves over and over again until they become second nature. By repeating ‘fake’ fighting moves their bodies learn to react unconsciously, which helps the fighter avoid dangerous moments of indecision in a real fight. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson honed his own considerable skills by sitting in front of a typewriter copying large sections of his heroes, Earnest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, writing techniques. ‘Faking it’, it seems, can be an essential part of the learning process. In the past one of our town’s major obstacles has been the way it is
perceived and sometimes even the way we Doncastrians perceive ourselves. You don’t have to look too far to find snide remarks about Doncaster. Mostly it’s unimaginative people moaning about a lack of ‘culture’, as if a place doesn’t have culture just because it fails to live up to somebody’s preconceived and often mediocre image of what culture means, or else it’s stories about scary Friday nights filled with cold kebabs, brawling boys and halfnaked girls. Such comments tell us more about the commentator’s own cultural prejudices than they do about the town itself. In reality, of course, Doncaster is home to an incredibly diverse range of people, ecologies, cultures and talents. There have also been several new cultural developments since Donny’s last city