What makes a good story?

Erotica/woman porn.

^ that's what I came here to say

Explosions

I recommend throwing the occasional apostrophe in there.

I was going to say grammar, coherency and spelling.

With the above in mind I wish you heartfelt luck.

If you're an artist, Fuck what the readers want and produce what it is you want to express.

If you're not an artist, just make it as pornographic as possible.

Get some world building in there. Make a diary of your week, paying close attention to the most mundane activities, the source of your food and water, toilet usage, income etc. How do these things work in this Under-Hive? How would your day be different as a result? Research.

The little things make fictional worlds believable, and are also the seeds for new locations, characters, plots and sub-plots. You don't even have to mention them all, just know how it works in your head.

You should make it as realistic as you possibly can make a fake world, so I agree with Bullet Magnet that you should include little activities of life if it is a Science Fiction story. My personal opinion however, is that over explaining minute details gets really monotonous and will bore the average reader. Especially if it's a short story. I've talked about the creative process of making stories or what have you with a couple of people before, and although it sounds cliche, it all comes down to you. No matter what people give you advice on, you'll mostly make it how you want. Just allow yourself to revise things a little, but don't doubt yourself too much. Making good art can be a struggle, but the creative process is kind of inevitable. Plus when the deadline comes around you'll have to turn in whatever you've got anyway. So just do it, and don't think about it too much.

Revise, a lot. Some of my friends say they never revise, but whenever I do, I change a fuck ton of things for the better.

Also, on the subject of believable things, I'm finding it harder and harder to create a plausible universe for my zombie bikers story.

Talent.

Fear, surprise and ruthless efficiency.

And an almost fanatical devotion to the pope.

I think if you have some good characters, and avoid moments that are just plain silly, like two guys cracking jokes when in mortal peril for no good reason, you've got yourself something fairly good.

Less obvious plagarism from Necromunda.

Make it interesting. Stuff has to happen. When you're done write out a short list of events that happen in your story. If they sound shit there, they're probably shit in the story.

Hey, sorry I totally got banned for a week and didn't get to reply so I forgot this! I'm submitting the book to the publishers in a week. Thanks for the tips!

@MM - Hey I actually realised this half way through...I'm terrified GW will think I'm copying them but I only realised what an underhive or a necromunda was was when I googled 'underhive.'