Since last year, I have been an ailing patient of Blogshop story contest: stuck in the ward of first round, and almost hitting the mark at second round. Boom! Discharged. Dissatisfied. Disappointed, yet undeterred.

There was this hope in "next time", although uncertain.

Phew!

Did I keep applying? Yes, I did. Did I lose for five months straight? Yes, I did. Am I good at what I do? Heck, I am! Did I hit the prize? Heck, NO!

But in despair, there was this ever flickering candle of hope. Someday. Sometime. Somehow. I will make it.

It sounds simple. It always seems easy, until you have had a fair share of this conundrum.

However, we move!

Now, enough of my sob story. Let's look at something tangible the platform provides for writers, asides the rewards.

Review! 

They call it "Story Report", but that's the shortest path to mastery of the art of writing well, without necessarily buying courses sold in dollars.

For me, it was the segment that addressed consistency.

No, not about writing constantly. I'm referring to tone.

My journey as a published writer didn't start off on Blogshop, but this platform gave me a beta reader — a great necessity. A personal critic. A private mentor.

While writing comes naturally to me, it's development haven't been a day's job. Despite the progress, it took Blogshop "story report" to open my eyes to the missing link in my works. The disparities and shifts in tone became glaring after a critical comparison.

I improved, and still do.

Nevertheless, the exodus from that negligible labyrinthine organisation of an otherwise poignant story didn't buy my way into the thick foliage of the top three.

Hope did.

Hope in the next time, next attempt, next work. 

Sometimes, it's chance. Other times, you just need to leap one more time.

That next time might be the breakthrough. Your breakthrough.

Until then, don't quit. Like me, do understand that when hope meets will, the young eagle takes first flight.