Has it got legs?

I’ve often been asked how to tell if a story is ‘right’ – that is, right enough to catch the eye of an agent or editor. Well, the truth is, you can’t know until you’ve finished writing it. Nor, therefore, can an editor or agent.

Many books are written with all the promise in the world of being brilliant… only to run out of steam along the way. (And I should know – I’ve written some of them.)

With a short story of, say, 1,000 words, it’s easier to tell if it works because,