You should write your paper on the assumption that the journal will reject it. Theories of decision making point out that base rates

mentor.

Revising manuscripts to resubmit to a journal.

The project column describes the project goal I worked on that day.

Pick a coauthor who writes a lot. This is obvious advice, but disasters happen when a productive writer and an unproductive writer decide to write a book together.

The quest for the perfect first draft is misguided. Writing this way is just too stressful:

Because no journals have rejection rates below 50%, I assume that each paper I submit will be rejected. It’s the only rational conclusion, and my faith in rationality is supported by the amount of rejections I receive.

First, watching your progress keeps your goals salient, which prevents them from slipping away.

Before submitting your pristine manuscript, read the instructions to authors posted on the journal’s website.