Step one, fall in love with book, write it obsessively.
Step two, start working with publisher.
Step three, reach a point where I swear I'm either going to kill my publisher or they're going to kill me. Promise to only self-publish next time.
Step four, book is in, nearly ready to print, days away from going live on Kindle. Goldfish-style memory kicks in, start having fun conversations with publisher again, talk about next big project, open up new blank Word document, fall in love with new story...
Start back to step one again.
I may have a no longer blank Word document open. And I'm in love with fiction again. Some day I'll break the cycle.