Found one! · 2:03am Jul 11th, 2015
At the risk of turning this into a "Cold in Gardez fan blog", I have to ask...
Recently?
As in, since you woke up today?
Well, I have. I remember reading the first chapter long ago, like... maybe a year ago or something ridiculous like that. I remember thinking "Wow, this is an amazing story. I should finish reading this." So here we are, a year later, and I only just finished the remaining chapters a couple days ago. Why yes, I do procrastinate. Thank you for asking.
I've got three things to say about this story:
1) Shouldn't this have the Adventure Tag, instead of Slice of Life? Sad, too, for good measure.
2) Still too many commas.
3) OHMIGOD wasn't that the most awesomest thing you ever read with your eyes?!?! It's like there's no characters at all, the stor ysi jsut a whole bunch of exposition and world building and that's normalyl like the dumbest msot boringestest thign evar, but he still makes it really interesting and they pull you right in oh wow the endigns are and the world building is and remember that one part where and then they all and then
Moving on
After a quick search, I found an interview of the author regarding this very story (It's right here ya lazy bums. Can't spare two seconds to Google it yourself, can you? Why, I oughta...!) It explains some of the premise and the motive for writing it, and sure enough, it was a writing experiment.
From what I understand, a proper Lost City must be the following:
1) Abandoned! No active characters may appear in the body of the story. In fact, no living intelligent beings at all, and zero dialogue. No first-hoof accounts of what originally happened. Remember: The city itself is your only character. And that character is either dead or breathing their last. Do your characterization via the world building.
1.a) You may include brief, cryptic references to no more than one (1) named individual, as long as they were instrumental in, and/or affected by, the events being explored.
2) Monumental! Each city was the site of a significant event, and all that remains is a monument. Often a tombstone, literally or figuratively. Remember: cities are big, busy, complicated, and diverse. Put some thought into the Slice-Of-Life things that used to take place here, especially if they hint at the large-scale events.
3) Mysterious! The main mystery is simply "What happened to all the people?" but you could mix it up with something else. The exact events that took place are never fully explained, or are done so only vaguely. The "slow reveal" is your friend.
3.a) The original chapters were all sad, poignant, and/or depressing. I suppose you could create a "happy" lost city, but it would make it more difficult: Tragedies are often the most compelling mysteries.
4) Descriptive! Remember, this is scenery porn. Your locations are your characters, so give them rich, soulful descriptions, without actually going full-on purple prose. And you better throw some more commas in there, because I know you didn't add enough. Seriously, like... seven or eight more commas. Per paragraph.
Personally, I think everyone ought to try writing one of these themselves. They say everyone has a novel in them. So why not a city?
So here's mine.
The Seal of Wax and Glass
I'm going to be totally, crushingly, brutally honest here. I only wrote this story as an excuse to use the word "gyre" in it's proper, literal context.
Also, motivation. You've probably noticed that I've been in a serious writing slump lately, and haven't posted anything significant in a long time. This is yet another attempt to get back into the swing of things, and it's work out pretty well so far.
This story has problems, to be sure, in that it deviates from the formula listed above in one very specific but very significant way, but I'm still mighty proud of it. I also worry that I explained too much, when I ought to have left the mystery mostly uncovered. Please tell me what you think of it, both as a tribute and on its own merits.
Also, please tell me if someone else has attempted this before. There have to be others. I can't possibly be the first.
...I wrote a story inspired by it myself, for the last writeoff. Mine's still on the floor of the editing room, though, while I try to improve some of the weak spots and make it less of a direct ripoff. But yeah, you kinda beat me to the punch at my own game.
Yay mixing metaphors!
3227207 Yeah, I think it was yours that I was a little nasty to during the reviewing process. (Those who can't do, critize, I suppose) One of the critical things about LC style fics is the Point of View has to move smoothly, so the reader is not jarred out of their fragile suspension of disbelief. It's one of the reasons I haven't been able to make one of my own, although I've got a chapter in Letters that starts out fairly successfully in that particular style. My 'eye' tends to dart around the room, down the hall, through the balcony, and then backtrack to pick up what I missed on the first trip.
After reading Lost Cities and this blog, I've decided to try one of these myself.
If you're interested, I've thrown the resulting words into my Scrapbox, and it can be found here: Link.
It plays with the idea in some ways, and it's a weak effort a best, but if you're interested in this sort of story, perhaps you'll enjoy it.