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- Clear my head
- No, really clear my head
- Have a vague idea of what the argument is that I’m going to write
- Have a concrete idea of what the form is that I’m going to write in
- Start thinking up phrases in iambic pentameter
- Keep thinking up phrases in iambic pentameter
- Wait till my heart beats in iambic pentameter
- Optional: have access to a rhyming dictionary, to use as emergency backup
- Start writing, keeping in mind the vague idea of what the argument is
- Scrub lines if they’re not going in the right direction
- The first quatrain is the hardest. Once that falls into place, the form does too.