Q. I live in another country. We currently have a limit of 300 entrants per contest and the contests always fill up. That number may change in the future, but only when we increase the prize money. In the contests, we give the topic, and what we find, after reading the first few entries, is that most of the stories are the same story told over and over but in a different way. Those are weeded out because it is obvious that originality did not play a major part in their planning.
Some writers can weave a beautiful thread, but tell a really bad story at the same time.
Humor plays a part, too, when appropriate in the story. If we groan, we don't like it. If we laugh out loud, we love it. What we end up with at the end is 10-20 stories that stood out above the rest. While good writing is a must, originality plays a huge role in the judging as well.