A guest post from Emma Newman for The Creative Penn

I must confess, when Joanna asked for tips on writing a great short story, I panicked.

Quite apart from the usual fear that I would be declaring myself an expert (to which I have an intense aversion) I found myself worrying about answering one question before I could even contemplate this post:

What’s a great short story?

I mean, even before we consider the “great” part, there are so many different kinds of short stories. Ones with twists and ones without, ones with only 6 words, some that are almost novellas. Some that focus on only one person, in one place and time, some that span centuries in only a couple... More...