How did you know what would be your (or the subject of your) first novel (novella)
Was it an idea you had and growed for a long time ?
Was it something (for differnt reasons) obvious to you (you knew that it has to be that subject)
Or, did it came by chance, without paying much attention (you were writing disparate things and then gradually you find yourself writing something that could be a novel)
The story had grown from an idea I had years ago, from my late teens. It buzzed round my head until I wrote it all down in a notebook. At the time I just felt as though I was holding the pen as the tale flowed out in its own way. Doing it opened a world of further ideas and more stories. There was no reason, no genre and no ambition to be a writer. It just seemed to be an extension or progression of play.
I knew the genre of my stories, but not the subjects when I first started writing, so yes it did grow over time. There is a reason why one subject is part of my story.