Intends to produce a really good manuscript (4)
I believe the answer is:
aims
'intends' is the definition.
(aiming is a kind of intending)
'a really good manuscript' is the wordplay.
'really good manuscript' becomes 'ims' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'ims'='AIMS'
'to produce' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aims that I've seen before include "Trains - intentions" , "Objectives; points" , "Sets sight on target" , "Objectives, purposes" , "Points a weapon" .)