The writers I read

I've long contended that writing is nothing more than the targeted blowing out of everything one consumes. In that respect, it's very much like eating and, well, you can imagine where this is going.

The bottom line in this wretchedly obtuse line of thought is writers need to read. It's how they stay in touch with their world and how they convince themselves - without too much difficulty - that their work compares as favourably as that Lada parked next to the CEO's Lexus. It's a humbling process, but one I hope will ultimately help me improve the quality and relevance of my own work.

To that end, I regularly scour the Internet for the latest missives from my favourite media writers, and drop their readings onto my Palm Pilot (more on the technology of writing and researching in a later post) for later reading.

I'll be using this blog to share some of the best. If you want to see what inspires me - or what simply ticks me off - read on:

Joe Fiorito - Toronto Star columnist. No one paints better human-scaled pictures of the city.
Rosie Di Manno - Toronto Star columnist. Straight-shooting writer who stands down for no one. Always a thinking read.
Christie Blatchford - Globe & Mail columnist. A superb storyteller. Like Di Manno, stops at nothing to get the story behind the story.
Steve Tilley - Edmonton Sun media columnist. One of the sharpest-penned and most envelope-pushing writers I've had the privilege of reading.
Scott Feschuk. Currently on leave from his TV critic slot at the National Post to write speeches for possibly-soon-to-be-ex-Canadian-Prime-Minister Paul Martin. Best read alone - when laughing out loud won't compromise your professional image.

There's lots more. This should get you started. If you want to suggest more, e-mail me:

carmilevy AT gmail DOT com (and if you need to ask how this bizarro antispam strategy of mine works, sending e-mail from a link in a blog likely wouldn't be your thing anyway.)

Happy reading!

Carmi Z.