-----Halfway Update-----
100 Days of Poetry Challenge
----------Day 50----------
Introduction
Greetings to all poets and poetry enthusiasts! We have reached the halfway point along our journey. Day 50 began as of 6 PM GMT on April 25th. Rather than announcing winners, this post will focus on the restructuring of categories and list all the poets that are still in the challenge.
Changes to challenge operation & reminders
The challenge operation remains largely the same, except there is a restructuring of the category system described below. I will say that I'm disappointed that more people don't participate in the free live poetry classes held every weekday in the Steem Schools discord channel. While not a requirement, the people that engage there generally see much faster improvement in their writing than those that don't. Especially for non-native English speakers, it is very helpful to get feedback on your poetry.
I am still seeing tons of basic grammar mistakes in the Beginner poetry category and this will not change unless you take the extra time to work with people in editing your pieces. We don't have time to track you down individually and offer in-depth analyses, but if you come to class you can get that for free. They occur every weekday from 5-7 PM GMT. They are open to all poets, not just people in the challenge.
I know that the classes are not at convenient times for many, and that's understandable. Therefore, if you can't make it but you want in-depth analysis of your poetry, learn to leave poetry critique comments on Steemit and, depending on time, we can look at some pieces that are 250 words or less live on our Critique Thursday sessions. They are all recorded so there is no excuse to not learn about the art of critique and help make Steemit a better place by leaving more substantial feedback to content creators. All skill and experience levels can benefit from training critical thinking, a faculty too often deficient in the modern world.
All poets in the challenge have 14 skip days, that's one per week. Don't be afraid to use them. Remember that (except in special cases) more than 3 skips in a row results in disqualification. The best thing is to keep track of them yourself so you are sure. I have had to remove many people because of an excessive amount of skip days. As much as I'd like to give more chances, it's not fair to the remaining participants and it goes against the intention of the challenge—which is to increase your artistic consistency and break through creative boundaries.
Also, many people are posting their poems many days late. I will be getting stricter about this. Now is Day 50. It's your responsibility to stay up to date. Not doing so can lead to you being removed from the challenge.
Category Restructuring
Instead of "Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced" which I feel is rather inaccurate as well as having positive and negative connotations, we will be moving to Category I, II and III. This shifting will take place starting on Day 51. I have endeavored to make them approximately the same size so there is a similar level of competitiveness. Below are listed the 33 remaining participants in the challenge, out of an initial 135 entrants. Getting to the halfway mark is a huge accomplishment and I applaud all of you. I also admire all who entered and participated to any degree, as this is an ambitious undertaking.
| Category I | Category II | Category III |
|---|---|---|
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Congratulations to those listed! I have decided to send everyone that's still in the challenge 1 SBD as a token of recognition. I know it's small, but I'm grateful for your continued participation! By the way, it's not a failure to drop the challenge. Anyone is welcome to be a part of our poetic community. The challenge is meant to be just that—a way to affirm what is possible and explore the pros and cons of perpetual poetic motion in a specific way: daily poetry blogging on Steemit.
Classes
We have poetry classes every weekday in the Steem Schools Live Class section of the Steem Schools discord from 5-7 PM GMT. We do a variety of things but generally look at the work of published poets, both living and deceased, for much of the class, and share our own pieces toward the end if we have time.
On Thursdays we have live poetry analysis classes led by 
Guy (
Winners
I'm a bit behind here, but I will be announcing winners officially in some upcoming posts. I'm sending the prizes as I get through things. I've determined up to Day 43 so far and plan to get caught up as soon as possible, definitely by this weekend.
Gratitude
Many thanks to all that are involved in this challenge. I never dreamed this project would be what it has become. Let's continue to do our best and help each other grow!
Huge thanks to all donors!
(440 SBD)
(50 SBD)
(30 SBD)
(20 SBD)
(11.11 SBD)
(10 SBD)
(10 SBD)
(5.44 SBD)
(5 SBD)
(3 SBD)
(1 SBD)
(1 SBD)
(0.5 SBD)
(0.2 SBD)
(0.1 SBD)
(0.1 SBD)
Sum of all donations
(excluding mine)
.
158.227 SBD
&
24.017 STEEM
out of
1500 SBD total prizes
Donations go towards the daily (9 SBD), weekly (15 SBD) & overall (TBD) prizes for this challenge. They are highly appreciated because the rewards are coming directly from my own earnings/savings. To donate, you can send to our dedicated account 
Writing & images
By
4/25/18
Join the Steem SchoolsDiscord here: https://discord.gg/Ukubp9R
Become part of the movement!
