--Announcing the--
---Steemit School Poetry---
--100 Day Challenge!--

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Introduction

Hi everyone! I'm ecstatic to announce that I'll be launching a 100 day long poetry challenge for all skill levels from total beginner to advanced. It involves writing one short piece of poetry every day for 100 days with a maximum of 7 skip days. This will run 14 weeks and 2 days from March 7, 2018 to June 14, 2018. (Update: registration is now closed! You can still participate by posting along with us, and joining our daily classes in the Steemit School Discord. Thanks for understanding!)

Please also check my blog for the daily updates that list the changes to the operation of this challenge. There are now three categories for Beginner, Intermediate, & Advanced for 3 SBD each daily. The remaining 1 SBD is going towards a weekly prize of 5 SBD in each category among the daily winners.

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Why I am doing this challenge

My motivations for hosting and coordinating this challenge are manifold. First, I come from a perspective of having taken this challenge myself. In fact, I am going on 200 days of daily posting with a handful of missed days. It has done wonders for my creativity, consistency, and confidence in my craft. It has also empowered me to connect more deeply with others and myself through the art of poetry. I want to facillitate and encourage others to take this journey of self-discipline in self-expression. Secondly, I want to expand the budding poetry community on Steemit on a grassroots level. Sometimes poets (and artists in general) can get to feeling rather isolated. So we will come together on a daily basis to discuss, share, and learn from each other. Thirdly, I want to give back to a community that has shown me amazing support since day 1. With that being said, let's look at the structure of the challenge.

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Poetry challenge (100 days)

1. Write one poem every day using the tag "steemitschoolpoetry" as one of your five tags.
2. You may write in your mother tongue (if other than English.) (Optional!)[Note: this is first and foremost an English poetry contest due to limitations of not having judges arranged for other languages!]
3. Translate to English version (please do not just copy + paste in Google Translate.)
4. Minimum length = 14 lines (3 quatrains + 1 couplet)
5. Find or create at minimum 2 images that fit the poem & include your sources.
6. Make it look nice to the best of your ability using your markdown skills.
7. Include a current link to the Steemit school discord at the bottom of your post.
8. You have 10 break days (only.) Use them wisely!! That one per ten days.
9. You may only skip two days in a row. Three days skip in a row results in disqualification for prizes.
10. Days will begin at 6 PM GMT (1 PM EST, 12 PM CT, 5 PM CET)
11. Each day 3 winners will be chosen in each category (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) to receive 3 SBD.
12. Weekly, one of the daily winners for the week in each category will be awarded 5 SBD each.

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Challenge operation, cont'd

1. There will be a few large prizes based on exemplary achievement for students that complete the entire 100 day period. (TBD)
2. Challenge will run from March 7, 2018 to June 14, 2018. (Days start & end at 6 PM GMT.)
3. Daily winner will be invited to read their poem in our Steemit School discord and speak about its meaning, the inspiration behind it, the construction, etc.
4. There may be additional challenges added along the way as surprises.
5. We may look into different forms (sonnets, limericks, etc.) according to participant interest.
6. Please comment on at least 3 other participants' entries daily to give them feedback.
7. There will be tutorials along the way regarding markdown, creating and editing images, and different aspects of poetic expression.
8. Intended for both experienced poets and those who want to learn to write poetry.
9. Donations are highly appreciated for the 9 SBD daily prizes / 15 SBD weekly prizes and I will list your name in daily updates as a donor to the cause.
10. Let's create strong habits together for daily creativity & expression through the art of poetry!!!

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Registration

1. There are two days to signal your intent to join this challenge.
2. Please comment on this post and resteem it to signal your intention to participate.
3. Basic comment format "I will join the 100 day poetry challenge. I (have been writing poetry for X years, months, days...)/(I have never written poetry before.) For me, poetry is... (...) "
4. Join the Steemit School Discord Channel and take part in one of the fastest growing Steemit communities for education with 24/7 support.
5. Introduce yourself in the Discord, saying you were invited by @d-pend and tell us a bit about yourself.
6. Tell as many people as you think are interested in this challenge over the next two days.
7. Again, both experienced and first-time poets are greatly needed to build momentum and community in this challenge!
8. Experienced poets especially will be invited to lead workshops in their poetic style.
9. I am honored to be your companion and friend on this journey through cultivating the daily habit for writing & sharing poetry!

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Criteria for selecting winners

The criteria for selecting the daily 10 SBD winners will be extremely varied, such that I find it difficult, and even undesirable to give a rigid set of guidelines for the choice. For instance, some gravitate towards whimsical poetry, others are skilled with wordplay, or abstract imagery, or powerful emotion, etc. It is my intention to spotlight as many styles as possible. That is why there are no requirements for form as long as the poem is at least 14 lines in length. I will also take into account experience and skill level, so new poets will have the chance to be rewarded and featured just as established poets will. You may only win once in each 25 day period, for a total of 4 times possible. However to be eligible for the large prizes at the end, you must create at least 93 poems in the 100 day period (because there may be up to 7 days off.)

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Daily updates

I will post daily updates announcing the previous day's selection, what we are studying and discussing in the Steemit School Discord, and listing all of the participants in the challenge. I will also list the donors to the prize fund of the challenge.

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Donations

If you would like to contribute to the 2000 SBD total prize fund for this challenge, it is very much appreciated. Simply transfer any amount of STEEM or SBD to @d-pend with the memo "Donation for 100 day poetry challenge" and you will be listed in the daily update posts that I publish.

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Conclusion

This is only the beginning! As always I take your feedback and insight into consideration and will mould this challenge according to how things unfold. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments below. (If you want to ask me something privately use @d-pend on Steemit.chat or @d-pend#5693 on Discord.) Please share this post to anyone you feel may be interested in participating. It is my firm belief that anyone can learn to write excellent poetry and enjoy the process, so please do not exclude yourself because of self doubt. If you have the interest, give it a try! It might just change your life. And lastly, please consider joining the Steemit School Discord and becoming part of one of the fastest growing Steemit communities centered on self-cultivation, education, and self-empowerment. We have around 1000 members in only 7 days. Much gratitude to everyone who is helping to make this challenge a reality and to everyone who has supported me on my Steemit journey in the past 8 months. You all are amazing and I'm continually in awe of the great people I meet on a daily basis!

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Wholeness,
@d-pend
3/5/18

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Update: some rules will be shifting slightly. We will now have categories for beginner, intermediate and advanced, with daily 3 SBD prize for each. (3+3+3) Remaining 1 SBD out of 10 daily will be distributed as weekly spotlight post (7 SBD reward.) I will also resteem the Weekly Pick and give 100% upvote (~15 SBD.)

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Also, I am looking for assistance! This is a huge task and already we have about 80 entrants. There are 12 hours left to enter. Look out for the update post which I will post later tonight. Another big thing is please put Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc. somewhere in your title so it is easier to find and document your posts.
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We need more whale and dolphin assistance, especially. I am only one dolphin and my upvote and influence only goes so far. Please appeal to other large users on the platform to see if they will get involved in this project.