Drunk on Writing

What's your word count at now, Mommy?

I thought I would take a brief break from researching bottled water and food labels. Yes, this research is directly related to my writing efforts. My advice to anyone who loves researching stuff is this: Write a novel about someone with Asperger's. I also learned that having a character with Asperger's is a great way to up your word count by including lengthy, long-winded monologues on varying subjects.

When I first decided to include Asperger's as a large part of my narrative I assumed it would be a piece o' cake. By day I am an Autism support worker and I work with preschool aged children on the Autism spectrum so I figured I was in a perfect position to write about an adult with Asperger's (which closely resembles Autism and falls on the spectrum as well). What I didn't immediately realize was that everyday I work with CHILDREN. These tiny, fascinating, intelligent little creatures are vastly different from their grown-up counterparts. I teach kids how to ask to use the toilet and how to share and respond to their peers. It can be easily presumed that the vast majority of adults with Asperger's have acquired these skills to a functioning degree. I have NO idea what Asperger's and Autism looks like in adults.

Then there was research. I have found some great blogs written by adults with Asperger's. I even watched a movie called "Adam" which deals with the subject (I highly recommend it).

So I'm just going to muddle through and try to make it look like I know what I'm talking about. If you can't make it, fake it.

Besides, I can always go back and fix it up. Yay NaNoWriMo!