new diary

National Novel Finishing Month

2006-12-02T18:43:00.000Z

National Novel Finishing Month: "NaNoFiMo is a challenge based on, but not affiliated with, National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, which challenges participants to write 50,000 words in November. NaNoFiMo is a challenge to finish an existing project in December. This project can be your NaNo novel or anything else, but it should be a partially written novel, not a complete draft in need of editing. (There's NaNoEdMo for that.) If you were disappointed when you found out you weren't supposed to use a work in progress for NaNoWriMo, this is the place for you and your half-written novel. If you didn't finish in NaNoWriMo, this can be your chance to redeem yourself."
NEW TO ME

good ideas for writers

2006-12-02T03:30:00.000Z

National Novel Writing Month - News and Radio: "
A: Daniel(Dad): If it wasn't for my children's encouragement to turn off my inner editor, I never would have made it. There were days I couldn't write at all because everyone else was on the computer, so I had to do some late night typing after the rest of the family were in bed, and (ahem) I did manage to squeeze in a few thousand words at work (but don't tell my boss). Word Count: 51,000.

Catherine (Mum): Prioritizing. Leaving the TV off and realizing how much time is wasted on the television. We had a lot going on (we are hosting a public speaking conference from November 27 to December 2, so we knew we had to finish our novels a little quicker than 30 days); we made NaNoWriMo a priority for our family in the month of November. Word Count: 52,000.

Katie: Every day after I got up I would write out four or five things that I wanted to happen to my characters that day; so when I got my turn on the computer I didn't have to waste time thinking 'what's going to happen next,' I could just type. The other thing was Dad letting me stay up and write really, really late while everyone else was in bed. Word Count: 101,000 in two novels."

Professional Grant Proposal Writing

2006-11-19T07:40:00.000Z

from my email:-
The Grant Institute's Grants 101: Professional Grant Proposal Writing Workshop will be held at th University of Texas at San Antonio, January 17 - 19, 2007. Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly.
Please forward, post, and distribute this e-mail to your colleagues and listsers.

All participants will receive certification in professional grant writing from the Institute. For more information call (888) 824 - 4424 or visit The Grant Institute website at www.thegrantinstitute.com

and, for example, the same applies to applications for disability pensions in UK, and how you write within the formula is just as important as being duly qualified.

sunday afternoon

2006-11-19T07:15:00.000Z

National Novel Writing Month - Forums - England :: Birmingham - Third write-in (Sunday, 19/11/06 from noon onwards at Starbucks on New Street):

6:48 and I am just got out of bed and switched on my MacBook Pro before anything else
I am not photographing the dawn again
(see http://snaps4.blogspot.com/2006/11/early-start-saturday.html oops just seen the typos )

I was undecided whether to come or not today Sunday
I have been distinctly underwhelmed by Stephen's negativity
and by the silly woman who want to hide their faces -
vanity or fear ??

any way I will probably not do another blog about the show
but in the second interval anyone who would like some publicity, please make yourself known and I will do a mini interview or two

if you want to be a successsful writer you have to do several things including:-

produce work of marketable quality
in quantity enough to make a living
sell it
get known

my blogs get 150 to 200 page views daily and google picks up some of my stuff within hours

one day they got 1500 hits but i have not fathomed out why.
I know I have readers in UK USA Denmark Australia ay least

back to the photo and other blogs
I like to help people
'make your self useful' is a motto I learned from a millionaire I used to work for.

I regularly use the formula "from my email"
and some of my correspondants really like to appear anonymously on the web

TIP so if you also use beta.blogger.com for self publishing
(I decided to use blogger as my publisher in 2003)
you will find by editing the dates you can control the order of the chapters on screen

just drop me a line if you want to publicize your own writing
If I make a link to your web page it will help your google ratings
BTW blogger beta is now best

see you guys at Starbucks New Street. Birmingham UK from 12:00 pm and some of us will hang in to nearly 5:00 pm

see the thread - Forums - England :: Birmingham - Third write-in (Sunday, 19/11/06 from noon onwards at Starbucks on New Street)

details for our third BIRMINGHAM write-in:

2006-11-14T09:44:00.000Z

National Novel Writing Month - Forums - England :: Birmingham

from my email:-

Firstly, well done to everyone from Birmingham & the West Midlands - we passed the million word mark today, and that's a brilliant achievement by all of you.

Secondly, well done to everyone who came to last week's write-in - between the fifteen of us writing for about three hours each, if we'd all been working on the same novel, I think we might well have finished it that afternoon!

For this weekend's write-in, our unofficial deputy ML, John (aka john-g), is going to take the lead. Over to John...

***

Here are the details for our third write-in:

Date: Sunday, 19/11/06 date corrected
Time: 12 pm onwards
Location: Starbucks on New Street

I had thought about a different venue, but the arrangements were getting a bit complicated, so maybe we can try that one another time. Several wrimos have already said how much they liked the previous write-ins at Starbucks, so I won't try and fix something that's not broken.

Once again we will be following the tried and tested routine of 45 minutes of writing followed by fifteen minutes chatting and comparing notes. Stay for as many sessions as you like, and don't worry if you arrive late - plenty of people have been arriving mid-session and just getting stuck into their writing until the break, when they can get to know their fellow novelists.

As Rolnikov and Satu have said before, we are customers of Starbucks at these events, so you will need to buy a drink or two, caffeinated or otherwise. If you have a camera with you, it is always polite to ask people's permission before you take their picture, particularly if you are planning on putting the photos online.

I can't promise any laptops or fancy writing kits, but I may be persuaded to offer miniature mince pies to the most dedicated wrimos (mince pies stimulate the creative glands, as any scientist will tell you).

See you there!

NaNoWriMo in Darlington UK

2006-11-12T00:19:00.000Z

National Novel Writing Month - News and Radio:
"Today’s Guest: Annabel Townsend, chef and novelist

Posted by Tavia Stewart on 2006/11/10 2:35:01

Q: Annabel, you are chef and a NaNoWriMo novelist, plus you have transformed your café into a NaNoWriMo “noveling nirvana.”
In Arcadia Tarot Cafe

Working as a chef is a pretty time-consuming profession on its own. Could you tell us what writing your own novel while running a novel-writing headquarters might entail?

A: Well, since I spend all day talking too much to customers, 50,000 words doesn't sound too daunting. Darlington's noveling nirvana is situated at the In Arcadia Tarot Cafe in Darlington, in the north east of England. NaNoWriMo is proving to be very popular at In Arcadia! We now have 16 budding novelists, many of whom signed up at our mulled wine-fuelled Kick-Off Party last week.
In-Cafe discussions have included finding names for fictitious pubs, the links between vampirism and string theory, whether or not to include an as-of-yet unborn Zero-G kickboxing champion as a character, and whether me wearing my cow-shaped noveling hat contravenes Health and Safety rules in the cafe (I don't wear the hat, by the way, just in case). We're doing a special “bottomless coffee cup” for participants, but we're soon going to make it “motivational” coffee---you only get a refill after you've written"

in UK
on the first floor, above

In Arcadia
84 Skinnergate
Darlington
DL1

used to be a danish place name
cf Skindergade cafe - Google Search
"with a K" in central Copenhagen
Skinnargatan - Google Search in Sweden

Week 2 Pep Talk

2006-11-10T12:54:00.000Z

Hi there! It's Chris Baty again.
And if you accepted the challenge in last week's email, you opened a comfortable word-count lead right out of the gate, increased that lead in the first weekend, and are now sailing far ahead of pace, preparing to plunge into the 20,000s.

You are looking good, feeling great, and your back is slowly accumulating an array of "kick me" signs, placed there by your fellow participants as you sprinted past us. A few signs, though, are a small price to pay for victory.
And you *are* going to be victorious. If you are a day or less from 20K, you have everything it takes to win, and win big. Keep it up. Don't slow down. We admire you, even if you made us feel so bad about ourselves that we had to put those signs on you. . . . .

continues:-
National Novel Writing Month - News and Radio

ALSO if you quit in Week Two, you're going to miss an amazing moment---the moment when your novel begins to click. You'll miss a genius plot twist you can't foresee right now that will suddenly elevate your book from a distressing mess to a sort-of-tolerable mess. And then you'll miss the euphoric breakthrough that follows that twist, when your book improves itself all the way to not-half-bad.

Second Write-In

2006-11-07T16:02:00.000Z

from my email:-

Hello everyone,

Here are the details for our second write-in:

Date: Sunday, 12/11/06
Time: 12pm onwards
Location: Starbucks on New Street Birmingham

We'll chat and buy drinks for 15 minutes, then write for 45, and then repeat that routine until everyone has had enough!

If you come, do plan on buying a drink or two, so that Starbucks see us as good customers. I found last weekend that a fruit salad did a lot to keep me going when I started to wane...

If you're not sure about whether to come or not, don't worry - just drop by if you feel like it - you don't have to RSVP ahead of time.

Big news: I'm feeling a bit guilty about holding onto the No Plot? No Problem! Novel-Writing Kit that HQ sent me, so I'm going to put it up as a prize this time.

Of the people who are there from the beginning of the first writing session (i.e. from 12.15), the last to stop writing (breaks aside) gets to take the writing-kit home with them! It contains many great writing kitnesses, such as a badge, an affidavit, some encouragement cards, stickers and a calendar.

I'll also bring along more of the NaNoWriMo tattoos, and a couple more copies of our wonderful local handout, in case anyone hasn't had it forced upon them yet...

Keep up the good novelling!

Regards,
Stephen (& Annika)

The Birmingham local forum:

slow progress

2006-11-06T17:21:00.000Z

I really enjoyed the studious atmosphere of the write-in in Starbucks
and worked on deconstructing a medical romance

I am working backwards by hand
chapter 10 first
seeing how it all ends
got to chapter 7

Reading a book as a writer is quite different to reading for pleasure or study

I need to teach myself more about the craft of writing in the larger formats and get as persistant abpout writing as I was about learning the bassoon then I did 2 to 5 hours daily practice often as well as engagements and lessosn.

Sunday was Guy Fawkes night with not a bonfire to be seen on my track, but lots of air bursting fireworks giving a rise in pollution in these days of a high pressure weather system.

Lord of the Rings 1 on TV encouraged my to tidy up my Sony surround system and today I heard with a m ost sensiuos surroubd sound uality some late Dvorak Tone Poems and Huw Watkins the pianist and composer (which was really a bit spooky hearing my own name announced on the radio again after so many years)

I also made some great photo blogs on sunday which altogether turned into a great day out

I went to bed at about 2.00 am after doing that lot and left a lot unsaid about the pictures.

crashing and burning

2006-11-02T14:16:00.000Z

only made 250 words yesterday
then got drawn into research
digital Times on Line via Birmingham Public Libraries

so I am trying a new genre
11 chapters of romance
and after email and four blogs I am going to work on my old computer off line

chapter 1 before 1936 to 1942

2006-11-01T10:40:00.000Z

My mother's life fell apart in 1942 . . . . .

to be continued

and yes I got hooked on research instead of writing for the third time in NaNoWriMo space

Watkins A. H is her much loved David - her nickname for my father - from the Digital Times

satu says

2006-10-31T15:56:00.000Z

from my email:-

It's almost time! Are you ready? Have you stocked up the fridge? Briefed your loved ones? Do you have someone else to do all the work this month? ... No, me neither.

Before we start writing, I wanted to tell you a little about what we have planned for the month.

There will be regular write-ins!

The first one is this Sunday (November 5) at Starbucks on New Street, from noon onwards. They're setting aside a section for us, so just look for a group of people hunched over laptops and notebooks. If you've never been to a write-in before, do drop in and have a go -- you'll be amazed how productive it can be! I'm going to be there for at least two hours, but feel free to come and go when you like.

Bear in mind that the main purpose of this meet is to get words down -- there will be chat & drinks breaks, but most of the time we'll be writing. It's a good idea to bring some pound coins; that way it's easy for one person to get drinks for everyone (and they'll certainly be happier to have us there when we're actually buying!).

The Sunday write-in will be a regular feature, although it might not always be in the same place -- check the regional forum for the latest information. We're also planning to have some on Saturdays and, if there is interest, we can arrange other days of the week. There is a poll on this in the forum, which will run until the end of November; at the moment, Saturday is clearly the most popular alternative, but please let us know if there's interest for other days!

At the end of the month we're going to have the traditional Thank God It's Over Party, most likely on the first weekend in December. Stay tuned for more information on that!

Those of you who came to the kick-off party already have one of Stephen's nifty Novel Writing Handouts; others can find them on his website, at http://www.silveragebooks.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mag/ns/ns_2006.htm. They're full of terribly useful writing advice and space to plan your novel, not to mention more graphs and tables to keep track of your progress!

Don't worry if you don't know what you want to write yet -- I started without a plan the last two years and things worked out just fine. One of the joys of NaNoWriMo is discovering your story as you're writing it!

If you do get stuck and need advice, commiseration, or just a shoulder to cry on, please feel free to email or PM Stephen or me (********* nanowrimo.org will get to us both). And then again, if it's going amazingly well and you just want someone to bounce at, we're happy to hear about that, too!

Good luck, happy writing, and we hope to see you at one of our meetings!

Annika & Stephen
MLs for Birmingham

Birmingham regional forum:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=218

Novel Writing Handout:
http://www.silveragebooks.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mag/ns/ns_2006.htm

Regional page for events, &c.:
http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/regions/

my final test run for wordage

2006-10-31T11:18:00.000Z

My old dnkcen web site has been sadly neglected because deep linking was forbidden because of the inadequacy of the image server.

Since then I met the Rigsarkiv consultant ,who is the expert of copyright on their team, and he assured me that i may duplicate images on official danish websites because there is no UK style Crown Copyright in Denmark. Now I need to rethink and redesign all of it.
Google searches of dnkcen show a low percentage of sample indexing so getting ready for the new google co-op search engine

The file structure of the site needs to be redesigned no deep paths even if they look good.
For example:-
http://www.rootsweb.com/~dnkcen/randers/ft-1860/register/andersen.html
will be renamed and moved to a higher level
http://www.rootsweb.com/~dnkcen/randers_ft-1860-register_andersen.html

As an exercise in producing 2000 words before breakfast I decided to take this subject "some new ideas in Danish family history" and review what resources available to researchers.
This essay will become the basis of much of the portal to the Rootsweb DNKCEN site

I will continue with a summary listing of resources for danish genealogy, family and local history before writing about each one in detail.

Firstly in danish on line :-

a new make your family tree on line application and database has been linked to Ældre Sagen : Netværket
dis-danmark dominates discussion and notice boards causing the usenet group to become less and less busy
scanning and transcription of resources on that website includes important lists of place names and the pre 1974 counties.

archives on line:-
the great image server project with all its faults is nearing completion.
the census transcription project grows year by year
the archives own websites including FAQ, leaflets and DAISY the digital catalogue
the Royal Library catalogue with digitized photographs, illustrations and books
encyclopedias, dictionaries
googling in danish

place names and maps

secondly in danish off line:-
images and transcriptions are for sale on fiche and on CD
books on danish genealogy also treating the Copenhagen region with southern Sweden and Malmø as a whole
downloads of images in bulk and the "hackers"

and by personal visit to Denmark
archives and second hand bookshops
or hiring researchers and arranging genealogical tourism.

third in english on line:-
these sites are aimed at the people world wide of danish descent who no longer speak english
>The Danish Connection
mailing lists and noticeboards.
SKS
>leading researchers land mentors ike Horlacher
>finding living relatives
understanding danish for genealogy
dictionaries
danish english and english - daniish
>

and lastly in english off line:-
books
family history library in Salt Lake City
or cooperating with researchers and SKS r>

and in the future what is needed:-
directories on line - Krak and the predecessors

NOTES
off line
census

lægdruller
>conscription rolls

gotisk

in english
>
mailing list
notice boards

lists of lists

Here is the latest Update your MyFamily.com family site:

A Questions " are you also on the Denmark email list? More people will see your messages if you post them there".

B "I think that was where I was a year ago and kept getting too many emails about everyone so I stopped. "

A Seven people saw this message the first day;
fifty people have seen it since it was posted five months ago.

On the Denmark mailing list, 370-some people would see it the first day.
This website [the Danish Connection] is intended to be a supplement to, not a substitute for, the RootsWeb mailing list.

shipping resources

other peoples research

AFTER breakfast on the balcony
the weather is so good (sunny but windy)
I am going for a walk before the rains begin again - with snow on high ground up north of in Scotland
629 words so far in two sessions
going for a walk
now 640 !

fourteen hours to go

2006-10-31T09:05:00.000Z

done all my shopping I think and made a couple of blog posts
tidied my email

I think I will go for a walk and see some birds
gotta knock out 2000 words before breakfast tho'
and I am already a bit hungry
I got up at dawn after the usual restless night
turned on the mac and had a bath then got online

National Novel Writing Month - News and Radio: "We're almost ready for the noveling to begin, and the site is bulging with authors! If you're getting white 'Xoops internal error' screens from time to time, we apologize. Just hit refresh on your browser, and the page will come up eventually. We're pushing our servers pretty hard, and Russ is doing what he can to ease the flow through some of our clogged database arteries. The real hit will come the first
"

twenty eight hours to go

2006-10-30T15:35:00.000Z

you must enter before 1st November 2006
National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month - FAQs: "How many novels have been written through NaNoWriMo?
1999: 21 participants and six winners
2000: 140 participants and 29 winners
2001: 5,000 particpants and more than 700 winners
2002: 13,500 participants and around 2,100 winners
2003: 25,500 participants and about 3,500 winners
2004: 42,000 participants and just shy of 6,000 winners
2005: 59,000 participants and 9,769 winners.

Has anyone had their novel published?
Quite a few! Jon F. Merz was one of Team 2001's winners; his NaNo book The Destructor was published by Pinnacle Books in March 2003. Lani Diane Rich, sold her 2002 NaNo-penned manuscript, Time Off For Good Behavior to Warner Books, and it came out to great reviews in October 2004, and won the Romance Writers of America RITA award for Best Debut Novel eight months later. Her 2003 NaNoWriMo novel was published by Warner Books as Maybe Baby in 2005.

We had several sales of NaNoWriMo novels in 2004 and 2005. Sarah Gruen's Flying Changes began as a NaNoWriMo novel. Rebecca Agiewich sold her 2003 NaNoWriMo book, Breakup Babe to Ballantine in 2004; it'll be hitting stores in May of 2006. Dave Wilson sold his 2004 NaNoWriMo Manuscript, The Mote in Andrea's Eye, to Five Star/Gale; it'll come out in June 2006. In fall of 2005, Gayle Brandeis sold her 2004 NaNoWriMo manuscript, Self Storage, to Ballantine in a two-book deal"

kick-off meeting in BRUM run by xNaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison

2006-10-30T07:57:00.000Z

my photo blogs:-

NO PLOT NO PROBLEM was Sunday, October 29 2006, 3.00 to 5.oo pm, at O'Neills

afterwards

LINKS from topics discussed:-

yWriter
The free novel writing program

November Spawned: a Novel Writing Handout (2006):
"Here's a handout put together for those attending the kick-off meeting in Birmingham for NaNoWriMo 2006. It's part planning tool, part keepsake, and part something to let me relax at the meet-ups, so I don't have to worry if I don't get through everything I'd like to say!

Anyone's free to download a copy, whether that's for NaNoWriMo or just for writing a novel at any time of the year, and even if they aren't from Birmingham.

With that in mind, we've also put together a region-free version, which leaves out the photographs of our brilliant Birmingham participants, references to local websites, and mentions of our local ML email address.

There are two versions of each. One is A4-sized, for printing out to make a magazine-sized thing. The other is also for printing to A4, but with two pages to a sheet, to create an A5 booklet."

Birmingham A4 version, for printing to A4 paper and then stapling at the left hand side.

Birmingham A5 booklet, for printing to A4 paper and then stapling in the middle.

Rest of the world A4 version, for printing to A4 paper and then stapling at the left hand side.

Rest of the World A5 booklet, for printing to A4 paper and then stapling in the middle.

which led to spin off links :-

Welcome to Silver Age Books! -- Home Page

At Silver Age Books we remember the days when we used to buy a novel and read it the same evening. We ache for the classic Panther, Penguin, Orbit and NEL paperbacks of the 1960s and 1970s, for novels like Drunkard's Walk, Tower of Glass and Foundation, novels we only ever saw on sale second-hand – whole universes packed into less than 200 pages, sealed in a space-black cover. That’s the kind of novel Silver Age Books wants to be known for publishing. However, the money ran out...

And so now we publish magazines, and give them away for free on the internet!"

November Spawned: "In spring 2005 we began publishing a magazine, November Spawned, presenting extracts from some of the best fantasy, sf and horror produced during the eleventh month of the year, aka National Novel Writing Month (see www.nanowrimo.org for details).

We decided to knock it on the head after a year, because inviting contributions proved a bit awkward. However, all four published issues are available to read here, including two novels reproduced in their entirety."
More News from Stephen Theaker

yWriter

This free novel writing program has evolved over the years into a powerful piece of software, allowing you to break your book into chapters and scenes. Tracking progress is easy with the 'status' flags you can apply to each scene: outline, draft, 1st edit, 2nd edit or done.
Because losing work is the pits, this program will also create autobackups by date and time, as frequently as once a minute if desired. These can be browsed at will, making it easy to revert to an earlier version of your work. Includes a text editor, project overview, daily change log and much more.
I've used this program to write three complete novels of 90,000+ words each. I would never have finished them without it.

from my email:-
Hi novelist!

We hope you are as excited as we are about this year's event! To begin with, note that we have two MLs (Municipal Liaisons) for Birmingham this year - Stephen (username Rolnikov), back for a third year as ML, and Annika (username Satu), ML-ing for the first time.

We've arranged the kick-off meeting for this Sunday, October 29, 3.00 pm, at O'Neills in the Arcadian (see www.thearcadian.co.uk). If you need help finding your way there, we'd recommend google maps - at the bottom of this message there's a direct link to a google map showing where the Arcadian is relative to Colmore Row (though the directions shown are intended for cars rather than pedestrians).

There's no need to RSVP, and if you want to come for just half an hour at the beginning or the end, that's fine. We've reserved an area, and you can ask at the bar if you can't find us. We'll just be having a drink or two, talking about our novels, and getting to know the other writers in the area. It's scheduled to last for two hours.

I'm afraid only over-18s will be able to get into the pub this time - but if any under-18s are keen to meet up, email or PM Satu or me and we could always arrange to meet up for the hour beforehand at the Green Room, just around the corner (accompanying parents will be more than welcome).

Hope you can make it on Sunday. Don't hesitate to get in touch, and do try to drop by the Birmingham regional forum sometime (see link below) to introduce yourself, if you haven't already. At the same time, though, don't worry if you don't get around to doing any of that. The main thing is just to write your novel - meet-ups and forums are just an extra bit of fun!

Good luck on November 1st!

Regards,
Stephen and Annika
MLs for Birmingham

Google map:

link to our Regional forum:

This email is being sent to you by your local NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison using a blind mail forwarding system. Municipal Liaisons are never given direct access to your contact information. To stop receiving emails from NaNoWriMo, simply log into your account on the site, and de-select the option to receive emails. Happy noveling!

introduction 7 structure and format (part 3)

2006-10-28T23:24:00.000+01:00

232 words so far

I have been tired today and slept all afternoon. I was actually aching from all the mouse work until i had had enough sleep.
So i was easily distracted and moved the LIDL dish to receive another satellite

StudentNet Essay Planning: "Planning your essay is an essential stage in producing a good essay. Essay writing is a journey in which you, as a writer, take your reader along a structured path from a) to b). The better your essay plan, the better your final essay is likely to be."

Introduction 10%,
Conclusion 10%,
Use of literature 25%,
Knowledge 20%,
Ethical Reasoning 15%
Critical Analysis 20%
is one marking plan

i have found out what my next topic is going to be
DANISH GENEALOGY TODAY

Mastering the assignment brief

It’s essential to spend time reflecting on what the essay topic asks you to do and reading the specific assignment guidelines.
Note any key terms.
Do you need to explain any of them in your introduction?
Are there several tasks?
Are you asked to compare or contrast separate things?
What criteria of evaluation will you use?
Don’t hesitate to discuss approaches or definitions with fellow students; exchanging ideas is an essential and stimulating part of the learning process.
If you are baffled or confused ask for help from a module leader before you begin.
The first step is to know what is expected of you and then you can begin thinking about the structure and planning the preparation.

which means first I must write the brief

An academic essay is, in essence, similar in structure to essays that you have probably produced in the past. It consists of:

An introduction, in which you set out your aims or rationale and an interpretation of the essay title.
A main body in which the argument is developed.
A conclusion which summarizes the main points of the essay and may make some recommendations for practice.

It is a process in which you come to terms with a topic by collecting relevant information, ordering it and drawing a set of carefully considered conclusions.

©2006 University of the West of England, Bristol and at the top of essay planning format - Google Search

another approach

DESCRIPTION ESSAY OUTLINE FORMAT 

I.  INTRODUCTION:  Thesis  and identification of the item
 A.  Definition or identification of the item and why this description is important
 B.  The points, or frames of reference, about the item being described.

II.  BODY:  Explanation of the function, physical characteristics and parts
 A.  Function, use or purpose of the item
          1.  Classification of the item
               2.  State who uses the item, when and where
 B.  Physical characteristics of the item
                  1.  Give a "visual" of the item
                  2.  Describe the physical characteristics:  size, shape, material,    
                        color, etc.
 C.  Parts of the item
        1.  List major parts in the order in which they will be described
        2.  Identify each part,  its function and its physical characteristics.
     
III.  CONCLUSION:  Making the parts into a whole
      A.  Show how the individual parts work together.
       B.  Mention variations of the item, or similar items, emphasizing the
              Importance of the item that has been described.

Planning your Writing

The amount of time you should spend on an essay plan will depend on how much time you are given to construct the final essay. In exam situations, timing is crucial but you should still aim to spend at least 5-10 minutes working on your plan (assuming you are given a minimum of 45 minutes per essay).

and in USA
Essay Planning Guide
IT MUST FOLLOW THE FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY FORMAT!
First Paragraph: Interest catcher and thesis statement
Second Paragraph: Develop Reason #1
Third Paragraph: Develop Reason #2
Fourth Paragraph: Develop Reason #3
Fifth Paragraph: Thesis restatement and clincher

Name ________________________________________________ Period _________ Date ____________________

FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY RUBRIC

WRITING GOALS:
1.

2.

Introductory Paragraph

Paragraph begins with an interest catcher that immediately attracts
the reader’s attention. ____/1

Transition into the thesis statement. ____/1

Clear thesis statement that includes 3 reasons in
parallel grammatical form. ____/3

First Support Paragraph

Transition introducing the first reason. ____/1

First reason, clearly stated (topic sentence). ____/3

A minimum of one piece of textual evidence is clearly used to support the ideas within the topic sentence. ____/2

Evidence is clearly explained in support of the ideas within the topic sentence and the thesis. ____/2

Second Support Paragraph

Transition introducing the first reason. ____/1

Second reason, clearly stated (topic sentence). ____/3

A minimum of one piece of textual evidence is clearly used to support the ideas within the topic sentence. ____/2

Evidence is clearly explained in support of the ideas within the topic sentence and the thesis. ____/2

Third Support Paragraph

Transition introducing the first reason. ____/1

Third reason, clearly stated (topic sentence). ____/3

A minimum of one piece of textual evidence is clearly used to support the ideas within the topic sentence. ____/2

Evidence is clearly explained in support of the ideas within the topic sentence and the thesis. ____/2

Summary Paragraph

Transition introducing the summary paragraph. ____/1

Restatement of your initial thesis statement, including three
Reasons, in somewhat different, yet still parallel words. ____/3

Essay is written in past tense. ____/3
Writing Goals are met. ____/4

*** IF spelling/grammar errors interfere with understanding, up to 5 points will be deducted from the total score.

Total ____/40

Back to Dissonance Unit
Page last updated 5 March 2001
and my thanks toThe Center for Technology in Education
which is part of the Graduate Division of Education in the School of Professional Studies in Business and Education, Johns Hopkins University.

introduction 7 structure and format (part 2)

2006-10-28T10:18:00.000+01:00

106 words in part one of today's blog so 1894 to go.
my theme for today is my musings how to structure a 2000 word chapter

beginning - - middle - - end is the classic structur of a speech or newspaper article but in a book
beginning (a snare to capture the browsing reader in the book shop -or the resolution of a cliff hanger) - - middle - - end (what happens next? the cliff hanger?)

A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in which a movie, novel, or other work of fiction contains an abrupt ending, often leaving the main characters in a precarious or difficult situation. This type of ending is used to ensure that if a next installment is made audiences will return to find out how the cliffhanger is resolved. The phrase comes from the common end of episode situation of the protagonist left hanging from the edge of a cliff. Some serials end with the caveat "To be continued" (Duckman and Clone High parodied this caveat). In television series, the following episode usually begins with a "Previously...".

Although a cliffhanger can be enjoyable as a page turner at the end of a chapter in a novel, a cliffhanger at the very end of a work can be frustrating. . . .

introduction 7 structure and format

2006-10-28T10:04:00.000+01:00

Not too good - I used a copy of the table belowwhich looks good in NS IE 7 Writely but not in beta.blogger.com

and I got a false report of successful publishing to the blog but the page as published to the web looks exactly as edited.

I am going to try and post from directly from Google Docs & Spreadsheets
this using MS IE 7 >> WinXP sp2 >> Parallels >> MacOS 10.4.8 >> macBook Pro >> Dual core Intel CPU

AHA ! I have just found the spelling checker in the bottom right hand corner Check Spelling afterwards becoming Recheck

This document is published on the web.

Your document is publicly viewable at:
http://docs.google.com/View?docid=ajf3wth6hg5m_5grp7xj

Published on 10/28/06 at 10:57 AM

Re-publish document Stop publishing

This document has been published to your blog.

Posted on 10/28/06 at 10:57 AM

Republish post Remove from blog

You can change your blog site settings at any time

introduction 6 part two

2006-10-27T21:10:00.000+01:00

It is now 20:00
and to meet my target for a daily wordage of two thousand, I need one thousand more words.

During the gap in this pair of blogs, I really enjoyed cutting and cleaning the base of the great big white cabbage I bought forr 50 pence from Colin at Birmingham markets. It was so fresh that the mud on at the base of its outer leaves had not dried. I had chopped the bottom inch off with a big knife (made in Brazil and imported by LIDL) and left it soaking for the last three or so hours. Now I would dice all the "rubbish" leaves and add them to the cheap made in Cina electric pressure cooker from Argos, which is now on its second week of non-stop soups and stews and will be continued.

The first soup days of this autumn were of those half chicken pieces frozen down when I got a "tray" for £5 from Birmingham market. I went by the stall holder today and checked the kilo price which was £2, in other words twice what I pay for frozen 800 gram whole chuckies from LIDL, but stewed long and slowly really delicous with jucy white meat.
When I stocked up my fridge freezer form LIDL this time round I got some beef mince on offer and that kilogram is waht went in the soup pot after the chickens.
I constantly add onion and carrots and chopped up bits of cauliflower leaves which other wise get thrown away in England.
This is continuing the family tradition of soup making passed down to me by my mother. of using six bacic ingredients: a meat bone, a carrot and an onion, salt, peper and simmered in water for many hours in the stock pot. This is perfectly hygenic if kept covered and brought to the boil once a day.

20:20 and I have been AFK (Away From the Keyboard as we say in the chat rooms) to check the pressure cooker. The electronics have failed and it no longer has a working thermostat so I have to let it heat up at full heat and then turn it off when it reaches cooking pressure, which is with a boiling point for water of about 120 degrees centigrade and that speeds up cooking and kills all known germs and saves elecricity helping both my pocket and outr greene rpla
net.

Meanwhile on the radio there is a tape of a concert recorded last Saturday by the BBC Philharmonic orchestra. First was Brahms "Variations on a Theme of Haydn" which I know so well that even through the kitchen door whilst I was chopping up the above mentioend white cabbage, I could imagine the inaudable bits. i got to musing on themes and variations as a musical form.
The musical argument is much easier to understand than a symphony and could be likened to a science becauae the master composer reveals ideas hidden with in the original melody.
A quick google with this search string bbc friday concert 27 october found the programme for tonight:-

The Bridgewater Hall, Lower Mosley Street, Manchester

BRAHMS Variations on the St Antony Chorale

WALTON Variations on a Theme of Hindemith
RACHMANINOFF Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
ELGAR Enigma Variations

Vassily Sinaisky conductor
Alexander Melnikov piano

I did not know the Walton, but the other three pices are guaranteed to put me in a good mood even when in my coffin (hint for my chikdren org anising my funeral) - only 591 words at 20:45 and I am hungry - so time for another break now 607 words -will I hold out and get this before eating?

When this blog is done and posted i will do the rounds of the boards
National Novel Writing Month Forum Index -> Reaching 50,000!

What is the absolute dirtiest trick you can think of for reaching 50K?

. . . . . . and similar stuff

on there my handle is:-
hughw36
Joined:

2004/10/22 8:41

From Birmingham, England; Copenhagen, Denmark

Posts: 16

Posted on: Yesterday 4:51:24

and just now there are :-
users online
(335 user(s) are browsing Forums)
Members: 396
Guests: 224 from the FAQ pages

Will participants meet each other?
This year's participants all over the world will get together to drink coffee, steal plots, and partake in the highly therapeutic variety of whining known only to amateur novelists. At this point, most cities and college towns in the English-speaking world boast a NaNoWriMo chapter, and there are new chapters popping up throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa as well. So odds are good there's a party or NaNo write-in near you. Check the Regional Lounge in the Forums for your area and see what's going down in your town.

How can I get in touch with writers in my area?
The Regional Lounges of the NaNoWriMo forums are the place to meet up with co-sufferers in your area. Another thing you can do is check out the Municipal Liaisons page of this site, starting October 1, 2006. If your area has a Municipal Liaison (a volunteer organizer who oversees local events and get-togethers), you can just send them an email and they'll tell you what's going on in your area. (882 words)

Kick-off party! (Sunday, 29/10/06, 3-5pm, O'Neills at the Arcadian)

back to my memories, ELGAR embodies something of the spirit of the Midlands

"In all, fourteen people and a dog are featured in the variations: ... allegedly portrays Sinclair's bulldog Dan paddling in the River Wye after falling in;" and I remember my mother telling me this story in the now restored Birmingham Town Hall at the very first orchestral concert I was ever taken to. GOOGLED of course

I can still visualize the scene in the photographic part of my memory, where we were sitting on the balcony a little left of centre about 3 or 4 rows back.
The Enigma Variations have a great bassoon part too, which years later I loved to play whenever I could, in the Guildhall School of Music first orchestra for example.

[DONE] 1014 words today and now I can eat 21:09

21:18 fin

introduction 6 looking for the big number

2006-10-27T18:39:00.000+01:00

"I am busy typing this right now" was a place holder

pasted in at 19:19 gmt :-

Today friday I am making a late start, 17:15 and going for the 2000 words quick scribble. I am really going to try and stop myself editing this until i make the 2000 words. Says he correcting the typos preceding !

Now I am multitasking writing this whilst uploading images for mu SNAPS ONE blog., after the erratic uploads on beta blogger I am going to comntinue on the old photo blogs but will back link from the new beta blogger blog.
Yesterday evening an very very dear old firiend in her cups and said she wanted to come here today and stay and for a while I was on cloud nine and because she would be a great muse.

After sleeping for a bit I woke up at about 1 or 2:00 am feeling restless. and got on line wih AOL in USA and visted a chat room scheduled for talks on New York Genealogy.
Only one other person logged in so it was a bt of a flop.

Just tried uploading 5 images and blogger.com failed "CONNECTION RESET" again.
This time I am trying with three images. I want to make one of my twenty five image blogs showing where i walked today in Birmingham early this afternoon..
"CONNECTION RESET" again. So another attempt with just two images (220 words in 15 minutes so I need to sit here for about 3 hours unless I can speed up) "CONNECTION RESET" again and it looks as if I will have to upload these images one at a time. "CONNECTION RESET" again.

published Hurst Street and the markets 1
which is one twenty fifth of the blog I had planned.

So I am going to continue multi-tasking with some excellent jazz on BBC 3 on the radio in the next room. I am trying a new blog post with a two image upload now and going for the word count here.
I have known my "muse" for about 45 years and I will be writing some of our stories in my blog "novel" which I will start on the 1st. November on this URL http://nanowrimo3.blogspot.com/.

Image upload to blogger.com failed "CONNECTION RESET" again so it will be twenty five mini-blog psots to tel the sgtory of my day in pictures.
17:47 blogger.com failed "CONNECTION RESET" again . -. . the worst service that I have ever known from the google people.
The answer is to put my images on another server of course or shrink them before upload , but that would lose the point of spontainiaty in daily blogging and trying to tell a story in pictures 18:34 425 words

Normally at this time I am watching TV for one hour the local news from the Midlands where I am living just now in the United Kingdom. They ae of 30 minutes each, first ITV anfd then BBC but I am sacrifing everything for my 2000 words a day target.

i have just posted a couple of rants on the bloger help groups about current issues

photo blogging is horrible

... I see today i have a 25 image blog planned froom this afternoon and could not upload
more than one image http://slim2005.blogspot.com/ on beta.blogger.com you ...
Blogger Help Group>Something Is Broken - Oct 28, 1:15 am by hughw36 - 1 message - 1 author

document spellcheck no spell-check icon in latest Firefox on Mac OS nothing in the help files either
blogger spell check works OK with abc icon limited place names none in WALES ...
Google Docs & Spreadsheets Help Group>This isn't working right (Something is Broken) - Oct 28, 12:58 am by hughw36

revising this on line and the beta.blogger.com spell-check is down too.

yes it was about this document I can not see the spell check function in Google Docs & Spreadsheets
introduction 6 looking for the big number is where this is ending up by copy paste

I had planned to photo blog my day today which included looking in Hurst Street, Birmingham for the O'Neill's pub, which is where our local NaNoWriMo group is meeting on sunday 29 October 2006.
It is my third attempt at participating in the National Novel Writers Month but the first time I will meet colleagues, and the local organisers choice of venue in a mass produced Mitchells and Butlers pseudo irish chain pub is absolutely not my style.
I really enjoyed my little walk from Digbeth coach station (soon to be demolished) and shopping for fruit and vegetables at the open air market and took twenty five passable snaps on the way.

I started eating the red grapes on the 97A bus and when I got back to Merton House, I brewed some strong coffee (LIDL's own brand from Germany) and put together a mixed salad of lettuce, a tomato, one raw onion, a diced carrot all dressed with olive oil and italian wine vinegar, and a can of sardines in tomato enhanced with chile flavoured soya-sauce.
Whilst I ate teh food at 4:15 pm I enjoyed watching DEAL OR NO DEAL as much for the skills of Noel Edmunds, whom I had first seen on BBC World Service in Denmark in the days of Mr Blobby.
(820 words and 180 more and I will turn on my rice and vegetable steamer and the pressure cooker to make and cook my evening meal, which takes 50 minutes to be finished).

Meanwhile I am listening to opera excerpts and Stavinsky - "a great escaper changing countries and families often" - finally the Prelude and Fugue in A minor by Johan Sebastian Bach and transcribed from organ to piano by franz Lizt. i did not catch the name of the pianist and I am not going to break this flow of words and typing by googling or reaching for my RADIO TIMES.
This page in this format is averaging thirty three words a line, but for easier reading ten to twelve is best like any standard newspaper column.
if i reduce the width of the window the text flows as if in a containwer settles at about twenty tqwo words to each line. I get really telpted by teh tab marked File and the drop down menu with Count Words on the tenth line after various options for saving the file in the forma tofyoutr choice.

Number of Words:	1008
Number of Letters (no spaces):	4307
Number of Letters (with spaces):	5306

introduction 5 clearing the decks

2006-10-26T20:35:00.000+01:00

Today I am unsubscribing from most of my usual lists about genealogy and will remain off them until 2007.

For about 10 years I have been an enthusiastic user of message boards. In fact my first experience of using a modem was to dial up and browse REX the catalogue database of the Royal Library in Copenhagen.
After that I joined a FirstClass board on dial up too and became an administrator of an english language conference "The English Pub" in order to get unlimited access. A selection of usenet groups were mirrored as well as danish english was included.

Look back in DejaNews, which was off line for a year until rescued by groups.google .com
one of my first postings is here:-

Dream Voices ... for up to one hour without distraction once or twice a week so can one tap creativity in writing and painting (for example)
Hugh W
hugh_watkins@online.pol.dk
alt.dreams - Jun 9 1996, 10:32 pm by Hugh Watkins

the earlier email @email1.delta-air.com is not me

my debut was:

music I hear wonderful music a choir if I dream under a fever when I dream of conducting
an orchestra the playing is much better in tune than any pro symphony
alt.dreams - Feb 9 1996, 10:30 am by Hugh Watkins

and later

About Vikings

Date:		Thurs, Dec 5 1996 12:00 am
Email:		Hugh_Watkins@online.pol.dk (Hugh Watkins)
Groups:		soc.culture.nordic

Bear(skin) Shirts ?? (scottish english! SARK)

eaters of hallucagenic (lsd like) mushrooms

a sort of lodge of super warriors (like loud Ninja !) ??

the Earl's - King's - Chieftain's - best personal body guards ?

death wish?!

big

who can ever know?

Hugh W

introduction 4 using google writely

2006-10-26T05:29:00.000+01:00

When I wrote about inspiration and memories yesterday I copy pasted my stuff into MS Word to get a word count, but after joining the beta.blogger.com google discussion groups I saw that you should be able to blog post from Writely now http://docs.google.com/
which i have not used for six months.

There is a test function that said this will work with this new blogger beta blog too.

After watching "The Hulk" on TV at last - I had passed on the cinema release when I was in Copenhagen - I slept for about an hour but got restless - I felt too tired to blog, and after I had done some email and I joined in with the AOL genealogy chat room SPECIAL INTERESTS - GENEALOGY.

I tried to upload a couple of images to ythe new photo blog on the beta, but got a RESET - a known bug

These paragraphs are not going to be included in my NaNoWriMo 50,000 word count of course, because that starts on the 1st. November 2006 but are more in the way of a warm up and in this case learning to use the newest technology and getting used to hammering this stuff out.

I spent most of yesterday, Wednesday, fixing the side bars and links on one of the new and all my old blogs and with so much mouse work my right hand fingers began to tingle.

I am already meditating on some of my memories, for example the last time i saw my father was in 1942 on the platform at Newport station by the river Usk in Monmouthshire, Wales. Then this was still the Great Western Railway with green painted locomotives and chocolate and cream carriages. What is going to be more difficult id to enter deeply into my memories and find the feelings I felt at the time . . I was six and had no concept of death yet.

It will be a good theme for the 11 November - Armistice day which has many memories of solemn services in the school chapel at Clifton College, Bristol and of army church parades as a bandsman and later a brass band conductor with the Shirley band, Solihull.

This train of thought is leading me to crank up Parallels in order to run Family tree maker 16 on WinXP sp2 on this dual core Intel mac.

Only and old person like me talks of cranking some thing up because i think of hand cranking a car in order to start it up when the battery was flat or the starter motor broken..
I was always afraid of getting a kick back and breaking my wrist so you had to hold the handle with both hands and open hooked fingers with our thumb beside your index finger not gripping and encircling the crank . .not much thought for "health and safety" in those days.

I am looking back a Family Tree Maker 16 and after reading the help files i can make it display a calender of anniversaries and birthdays for November 2006

3rd. November Hans Jørgen Kristoffersen would have been 87 - I met him and can tell much about him and i remember his funeral.

5 November is Guy fFawkesday
7 November is my lost daughter Claire's birthday
10 Bolette and Jørgen Strømsholt so I can tell of my research
14 November youngest will be 18 years old

21 November uncle Norman Lapham - I never met him but I have some of his letters

which leaves twenty three more themes to find from my memories, or from a time line for the 30 day month

and 1300 more words for this blog

it is now 5:00 am and which is just the time of day I used to think about driving my taxi home at the end of my night's work in Copenhagen.
For a taxi driver each week day has a certain style because the patterns of work and pleasure and travel vary - so that could be seven more days of taxi reminiscences.

November 9/10 1938 - Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass

1962 November 21 U.S. ends Cuban blockade, satisfied that all bases are removed ...
22 November 1953 Kennedy was assassinated and we all remember what we were doing and where we were when we heard that

http://www.history.com/ has a good time line data base and I am going to go to bed after eating breakfast of porridge oats skimmed milk and cotage cxxheese with acarrot and my various pilla.

but the publish to blog failed and this is copy-pasted

There are a number of possible keyboard shortcuts that you can use when editing your Google Docs & Spreadsheets documents. Here's a list of some of the most popular options:

From the Edit page:
Ctrl+S to Save
Ctrl+K to Insert Link
Ctrl+M to Insert Comment
Ctrl+B to Bold
Ctrl+I to Italicize
Ctrl+Z to Undo
Ctrl+Y to Redo
Ctrl+A to Select All
Ctrl+C to Copy
Ctrl+V to Paste
Ctrl+X to Cut
Ctrl+Home to go to the top of the document
Ctrl+End to go to the end of the document

How do I get a word count for my documents?

To count the number of words in your
documents, click on the “File” tab and choose "Count words." ...(in a drop down menu)

introduction 3 inspiration

2006-10-25T06:44:00.000+01:00

Well one thing is certain, I am not going to follow a time line at this stage.
In January 2007 I will be 71 years old which means I potentially could write 70 chapters at least, but few on earth would ever read so much unless I achieved a proustian standard of excellence.

Eleven chapters is a typical romance from Mills and Boon spread over about 180 pages of 300 words in all circa 54 000 words which would make a seven volume series.

Well I have been married and divorced three times and had at least ten other serious relationships . . .

The one of my all time favourite TV series is HEIMAT shot in black and white by Edgar Reitz except for moments of intense emotion when he uses colour for a few seconds just as all of us remember the intense emotionally loaded turning points of our lives.

introduction 2 thinking about the job

2006-10-24T08:51:00.000+01:00

I woke up late, about 8:30 am, and looked, from my bed, up and out the uncurtained window at a golden line highlighting the edge of the lifting fog.
I sat up and turned off my CPAP machine, put on my NHS framed plastic lensed computing glasses, went into the writing room and turned on my MacBook Pro computer, I brushed my medium long grey hair and tied it back into a pony tail using today a pink wrapped elastic band, and logged on to the Mac OS.
Then, whilst the machine completed its start-up procedure and got my emails, I entered the bathroom, washed my face and my navel and brushed my teeth and, still stark naked, passing the hall mirror, which used to hang in my mother's bedroom, I glimpsed a bearded fat mountain of a man, with youthful untanned skin, seventy years old and festooned with ballooning soft lard hanging on big bones and strong muscles.

I sat down, logged on to Blogger Beta and began to write this.

8:57 and now at last the sun shone brightly on the white painted wall papered concrete walls of my writing room, and I stood up and placed the sun screen, improvised from a packing case sheet of corrugated cardboard, against the window glass.

9:20 and I have finished editing the above putting in the commas, adjusting the word order, taking out the passive and the present tense verbs.
Six minutes later, still re-reading and editing, I started reading my prose aloud and spotted more spelling mistakes. I clicked the ABC icon to use the google spell checker

289 words written out of a projected 2000 for today - I had to start up Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac vesrion 11.2 (060202) and copy paste the above, and use the menu >> tools >> (sixth line down) word count
9:50 time for breakfast and google calculator says 2 000 / 289 = 6.92041522 which means six hours work to be done

11:30 am continuing in edit mode:-

I breakfasted in my kitchen on cold rice, a carrot, my pills, and nearly a liter of lemon tea.
cash flow problems mean I have run out of coffee, bread, skimmed milk, cottage cheese and rolled oat , but because I am indoors I am not losing much weight because my metabolism slows down.

I have been distracted by my emails and mad a couple of GENEALOGE blogs using the blog this button in FireFox , and so I am going to take a bath, a lunch and a walk with my camera and do a little shopping - I need coffee.

When I get back I will do some photo blogging. both new and historical - I have some victorian stained glass pictures to upload and finally update all the side bars of the new and the old blog templates to make the cross links

But I still need to write 1500 more words here.
after shopping

I have been doing my email and posted some images to photographs and walks

introduction 1 planning

2006-10-23T06:07:00.000+01:00

My project for the National Novel Writing Month this year is to write a first draft of my autobiography. This is my third visit to NANRIMO and I intend to write 30 chapters of up to 2000 words daily and post them unrevised in this blog.

I woke up today at 5:30 am on the seventh floor of Merton House, Crabtree Drive and lay still in bed informally meditating and in a state of reverie planning what I should do today.

When I was a self employed (commission only) life insurance salesman, I studied business methods and found that the most important thing to do, in order to be organised, was time management and setting priorities. The best way to come to feel good about that, was to make a list of what needed to be done. In planning and then doing my days work I only have to do the most important two or three things, which cannot be put off until the morrow, and I will go to bed happy and sleep well.

What I meant by informal meditation was very close to daydreaming, in order to sort out the correct spelling of revery, reverie, I googled and looked for definitions and not finding any with the first spelling I looked at day dreaming then daydreaming - Google Search
when I clicked on [definition] and scrolled down past Français (French)
n. - rêves, rêverie, rêvasseries v. intr. - rêver, rêvasser n
I found worring links to conditions such as autism or autistic spectrum disorder and even attention deficit disorder.

Luckily I found a web page explaining this post freudian blundering :-

Confusion and controversy is caused by the tendency of some mental health professionals to assume that everyone diagnosed with ADD has some mysterious, irreversible brain defect.
This assumption has its roots in the very first group of severely ADD people ever studied, who suffered from encephalitis, or a swelling of the brain.
We also have learned that birth defects and brain injury from toxic chemicals such as lead often cause ADD.

However, over the last several decades the ADD diagnostic criteria have been so broadened as to include many people with no brain defects at all.

Experts in the fields of temperament and creativity have objected that perfectly healthy people are being classified as disordered. click here to read more on born to explore

Back to meditation, by formal meditation, I mean the sort of routine practiced in an ashram, or the daily prayer cycle of a monastery, or of a devoted muslim.

Take a monastic day:-
rise 3:15 to 4:00 am - breakfast 7:00 or 7:45 - lunch (dinner) 12:00 noon - siesta 1:30 to 2:30 - evening meal 5.00 or 6:30 - one hour of silence - 8:00 or 10;30 lights out or retire to rest.
This time plan is in part agricultural as if there are cows to be milked. There are 14 sessions of prayer or services, 4 hours work and 1 hour of recreation.

A muslim year is planned by moon and their day by sun, this year is 1427 and today is the last day of this Ramadan
Eid-ul-Fit.
the break-fast
the first day of Shawwal (the tenth month in the Islamic calendar). WIKI

Moon Watch :: An Einstein Year Project: "Have you ever wondered at what stage you can see the new crescent moon? In October 2006, the new moon occurs on October 22nd.

For the Muslim community, the sighting of this crescent moon will signal the end of Ramadan and the beginning of Eid ul-Fitr. Although the new moon occurs on October 22nd, it will not be seen from the United Kingdom until October 24th or, more likely, October 25th. Consequently, we would like to encourage UK observers to try and observe the new crescent moon on both October 24th and 25th in particular."

In Copenhagen my muslim neighbour from Pakistan used to phone home to ask if the crescent moon had been seen.

Muslims are commanded to perform salat fives times a day WIKI.
These days their timetables are on line muslim timetable - Google Search which varies according to location muslim timetable birmingham - Google Search just like church clocks did before the coming of railways.

The Birmingham Central Mosque has confirmed that Eid 2006 will be
Tuesday 24th October.

My granny born in Raglan, Wales taught me to make a secret wish when I first saw a new moon, and that it was bad luck to see it through glass.
Jones, Blanche Eveline b: 5 JUN 1874 in Raglan, Monmouthshire (AHW BB 1874) d: 5 JUL 1953 in The Haven Monmouth Road Usk Monmouthshire ?July 5 1953

today according to Birmingham, BHXont> United Kingdom Forecast : Weather Underground the sun rises at 7:46 am and sets at 5:55 pm
and at Birmingham Central Mosque:

Congregational prayer service times are for today:

Fajr 6:30 am - and pm Dhuhr 1.45 - (Jumm'ah 1.30) - Asr 4:30 - Magrib 6:01 - Isha 8:00 -

and from a web site with this - Motherpage and Latest Updates -
- an example of an Ashram daily routine:-

4:50 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. Archana
( Chanting of Lalita Sahasranama )
6:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m. Meditation
7:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Walking Meditation
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Scriptural Study
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Breakfast
10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Sevar
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sevar
5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Meditation
6:30 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. Bhajans
8:15 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Dinner
9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Personal study,
Meditation, Diary Keeping

Happy Diwali to All
The Festival of Lights is on 21 Oct.

So by formal meditation I mean the discipline of posture and chanting and mandala or rosary or even the bedside prayer, such as I was taught as a child.
see also ashram routine - Google Search:
eg
"The Ashram routine includes three complete meals. The food is vegetarian and a Sattvik balanced South Indian diet in tune with the yogic principles of food "

To which, being european, I would add up to 100 grams of meat of fish protein and some skimmed milk and a little cheese.

My danish dieticians recommended adding two small snacks between meals, for example:- a small fruit or a half piece of rye bread.

Today I have three important projects doing a longish written blog, finishing a translation of a short story from danish and cleaning up my central family history file Updated: 2006-07-18
of which unfortunately the working copy got corrupted.

This is only about 1000 words but it is a start