The first step in solving the equation \( 5n - 18 = -33 \) is to isolate the term containing \( n \). To do this, you can add 18 to both sides of the equation.
So the equation will become:
\[ 5n - 18 + 18 = -33 + 18 \]
This simplifies to:
\[ 5n = -15 \]
Now you can proceed to solve for \( n \) by dividing both sides by 5.