1. Come up with a great idea. Congratulate yourself on your brilliance.
2. Write a fantastic first page. Show everybody who loves you. Especially show your mother. Congratulate yourself on your brilliance.
3. Show your work to that friend. You know, the one who has no qualms about telling you when you’re full of shit.
4.Go back to the page and do better. Congratulate yourself on picking your friends well.
5. Write. Write some more. Write again. Forget to do laundry. Eat take out. Generally abandon everything. Remember* to take a shower.
* Remember to thank all the kind people who encouraged you, especially the people who wondered what happened to all the clean underwear and towels, and the people who read mediocre drafts and said do better, and people who never read a word and said you can do it, and people who bought you mojitos and laughed, and the dog, who thinks you’re brilliant, no matter what.