The Coming Of The Daikaiju Changes Everything

“ The coming of the daikaiju changed everything, and it changed nothing. Problems were still problems, only now they came in a super-size. The fact that all you owned could be crushed beneath the heel of a radiated prehistoric behemoth didn’t change the fact that chores had to be done.

Jube hated chores, so he put them off as long as possible. This morning, his mother had warned him of dire consequences if she returned home to find his room a mess. Despite the threat, he sat on a hill overlooking the sea of Japan.

The squawks of a flock of gulls caught Jube’s attention. Hundreds of the birds had taken flight and were headed out to sea. Because of the size of the flock, he could see them circling about a half a kilometer off shore. Something was happening, or was about to, that would provide plenty of fish for the gulls’ dinner.

The relatively calm water beneath the circling birds began to churn until it resembled a huge boiling pot. Jube climbed to his feet, certain he knew what was taking place; a daikaiju was coming ashore. It would be the first time one made landfall in Matsue. He began to wonder which monster it would be. As its great, gray head broke the surface, he knew; it was Mahinoakuma. One thought filled his mind. It wasn’t the death and destruction that was about to take place. It wasn’t even that he could soon be homeless. Jube realized  he no longer had to worry about chores.”–Excerpt from “Chores,” soon to be available in the next Other Earth anthology.

Perhaps the giant monster destroys the city. Maybe it takes a look around and returns to the sea. It is even possible the monster might just want to sit down and shoot the breeze. Despite the monster’s emergence from the sea, whether or not it destroys a piece of prime Japanese real estate, these are not the core of the story. At the core of the story–at the core of any story–is the human element.

Take, for example, a certain caped crusader. It isn’t the thousands of threats and villains he has faced over the years, it’s the boy who lost his parents. Or, let us go where no man has gone before. Is it about the myriad of aliens they face at every stop? No, it is about the crew of the starship and the bonds they have with each other. Stepping away from pop culture, let’s look at a classic. In Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, the white whale, while an amazing character, is not the core of the story. At the core is a man’s obsession.

Regardless of what you write, one of the most important things to remember is you must have the human element. At the core of the plot, at the heart of the characters, at the center of the situations, there has to be something you can identify with. Without it, your story will lose believability and, more importantly, it will lose a sympathetic reader.

Just thought I would jot this down.