Winning is nice if you don't lose your integrity in the process

I feel as though I've won today!

Remember my screenplay? The one I worked so hard on throughout the month of August? The one I finished with only 17 hours to spare until the deadline? It was called 'Bridge of Sighs' There is no need for anonymity anymore (one of the rules of the contest, so people can review it without fear or favour)

Today - the results of the contest for which I wrote it.

I didn't win.

I DID come second.

The thing is, that the script that DID win wasn't written in the course of the contest. It had already been written before the contest even started and had already been entered into other contests. It was freely available on his website and wasn't anonymous.

So... the writer didn't have to struggle to get it finished in the timeline. He could sit back and tweak and polish if he felt like it, which none of the rest of us had the time to do. Oh, and neither did he bother to review anyone else's work (so much part of the spirit of the contest)...

I reviewed his, fairly and honestly, and gave it the mark I felt it deserved, which was a good mark. There was another script, called Pain, by Erich Von Heeder, which should have won, in  my opinion. Erich wrote it within the timeline. Erich's came third. Criminal.

So - that's why I feel as though I've won. My integrity is intact AND I'm not bent out of shape about this - though I want to make sure that the rules are clearly laid out to prevent this from happening again. (It's the second time it's happened to me in this contest!)