Writing a Book-The Topic

Once you decide that you want to write a book, you need to eventually pick your topic.  When I began my first book, I wrote about my childhood.  One of my fondest memories was watching the snow fall.  So I wrote a few pages about it.  Once the pages were done, I changed topics and started writing about a prior job experience.  Then I switched gears again and thought about life after college.  One thing led to another and the character 'Cora' came to life.  I am not Cora, Grace or Leslie, (my main women characters), but there are parts of me woven in all of them.  By writing about things that were familiar to me, a character would suddenly pop into my head. 

I had NO idea where the story was headed.  I didn't edit.  I just let the story come out.  Once it began to grow legs, I created an outline.  Over time, I had to go back and clean up the beginning, but by allowing myself to simply write, I didn't impede my own writing process.  At the proper time, you can edit EVERYTHING.  By the time you are done with your book, you will have re-read every sentence more times than you can imagine.  Leave your critical hat for the editting.  When you are writing, be free.  My book did not end up about mu childhood snow days.  Yet, when my main character was in the mountains, guess what I used?  The snow scene I originally wrote many months before.  Let your topic come to you.  Play with it until it feels right.  The more you enjoy your topic, the better odss are that you will stick it out until the book is finished.