Aw shucks. And I was going to say it's a Fibonacci number between "lots" and "lotsnlots," but nobody's been able to figure out which one. :) (jk)

Ouch. I know exactly what you mean. Some contests are the same way, and the fact that you'd never win no matter if your story was brilliant is what I had in mind when I said "It depends on the quality of the contest..."

Catharsis rules, eh? :-)

+1 on most of that, but I have to disagree on the acting bit. Stanislavsky to the contrary, it is not the actor's internal emotional turmoil, but his external, carefully observed, practiced and rehearsed technique, that carries a character to an audience. All that "wallow in your neuroses" stuff just makes actors neurotic, and Lord knows many of them are neurotic enough to start with. :)

Writers of the Future is outstanding, imo. They pay above industry-average rates for winners' stories included in the annual anthology, and unlike most competitions the author retains all publishing rights.