Hey there!
Saw your response to the judges in the contest thread, and I'm both happy to see you responded maturely and totally feel you - as I mentioned I didn't fare well in my first contest myself. While I still had a fair bit more writing experience then than you did this one (entering your first-ever fic in a contest takes guts, man), I placed 10th out of 13 for similar reasons to you hitting rock-bottom here - my entry was rushed, barely proofread, and more focused on the contest prompt than actually telling a story; see for yourself (though note it was credited under my old username). Thing is... At the time, I was going through one hell of a personal crisis over whether or not I had a lick of writing skill, and that did not help at all. I was so devastated I felt I couldn't salvage the story I had and decided to overhaul it into a new one...
...But once I did, people liked it a hell of a lot better. And when I entered another contest later that year, that was received better as well. So I've kept on going. And really, you should too.
Though if it helps... I'm far from the most experienced writer on this site, but I frigging love giving advice and helping people with stuff, and a lot of me wishes people would ask me for that more. So if you need help with revising your entry or anything else, shoot me a PM or something. I'm willing to lend a hand (even if I might take a bit to get back to you).
Saw your response to the judges in the contest thread, and I'm both happy to see you responded maturely and totally feel you - as I mentioned I didn't fare well in my first contest myself. While I still had a fair bit more writing experience then than you did this one (entering your first-ever fic in a contest takes guts, man), I placed 10th out of 13 for similar reasons to you hitting rock-bottom here - my entry was rushed, barely proofread, and more focused on the contest prompt than actually telling a story; see for yourself (though note it was credited under my old username). Thing is... At the time, I was going through one hell of a personal crisis over whether or not I had a lick of writing skill, and that did not help at all. I was so devastated I felt I couldn't salvage the story I had and decided to overhaul it into a new one...
...But once I did, people liked it a hell of a lot better. And when I entered another contest later that year, that was received better as well. So I've kept on going. And really, you should too.
Though if it helps... I'm far from the most experienced writer on this site, but I frigging love giving advice and helping people with stuff, and a lot of me wishes people would ask me for that more. So if you need help with revising your entry or anything else, shoot me a PM or something. I'm willing to lend a hand (even if I might take a bit to get back to you).