Today, I saw the article Publish like a pro by Kendall Powell in Nature. Some tips on how to write:
- You are only as good as your last paper – previous success does not guarantee future acceptance.
- You’ve got to hook the editor with the abstract.
- Don’t delete those files. Keep every version. You never know what aspect you can use for some other piece of writing.
- Writing is an amazingly long learning curve. many authors say that they’re still getting better as a writer after several decades.
- The most significant work is improved by subtraction. Keeping the clutter away allows a central message to be communicated with a broader impact.
- Write every day if possible.
- once you’ve written what you wanted to convey, end it there.
These go hand in hand with this earlier post, although Kendall’s article does not stop there. Therefore, read it!
Personally, what I need for writing is a quiet, non-distracting environment with the internet switched off.
Notes on Disordered Matter 
The advice on writing is good but the stuff about publishing sounds like it was written by people who have forgotten what it was like to be at the bottom and have no reputation. I am a natural cynic but to me, publishing is like a series of gates… first you publish a few in a low impact journal and this represents the bottom gate. Next you send one to a slightly higher impact journal and the reviewers like what you have done before and they let you publish in this higher impact journal. Although your work may all be of equal quality , if you tried to publish your first one in the higher impact journal, reviewers would probably have said no because they don”t know you. So gradually you work your way up the journals, opening the gates as you go along and this takes several years, if not decades.
My advice for getting your work published in a high impact journal, build your networks, if your peers know your name, I think it makes a big difference.
Thanks! I fully agree!