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Kickstarter: Story Spark Mythical Creature Cards

Looks like a way to curb imagination to me.

(A card deck of architypes and the standard folklore motifs might be handy. I have pondered the devising of a Story Bag, but that would be artefacts not cards)
 
lordmongrove said:
Story Spark Mythical Creature Cards...
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ark-cards-mythical-creatures-deck/description
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Okay. So, you know when you go through phases when loads of weird coincidences happen to you in a short space of time? That's happening to me at the moment. Anyway, last night a memory flashed through my head of being told several times as a child about monkeys being trained by scribes to charge their pens from ink wells. It was told to me as a historical fact, and I thought it happened in China. So I googled it

For some reason, the phrase ink-pot monkey seemed familiar, but I googled various combinations of ink pot, ink well, quill, pen and so on with monkey. I found some results that connected the two in some way but never anything suggesting what I remembered. I almost posted on here to ask whether it was remembered by anyone else, but I was also watching a movie, so was a bit too distracted.

Then, I opened Lord Mongrove's link about something I'd have thought unrelated, and the first thing I see is an image of an ink-pot monkey.

I guess I'll read the rest of the link now.
 
PeteByrdie said:
Okay. So, you know when you go through phases when loads of weird coincidences happen to you in a short space of time? That's happening to me at the moment. Anyway, last night a memory flashed through my head of being told several times as a child about monkeys being trained by scribes to charge their pens from ink wells. It was told to me as a historical fact, and I thought it happened in China. So I googled it

For some reason, the phrase ink-pot monkey seemed familiar, but I googled various combinations of ink pot, ink well, quill, pen and so on with monkey. I found some results that connected the two in some way but never anything suggesting what I remembered. I almost posted on here to ask whether it was remembered by anyone else, but I was also watching a movie, so was a bit too distracted.

Then, I opened Lord Mongrove's link about something I'd have thought unrelated, and the first thing I see is an image of an ink-pot monkey.

I guess I'll read the rest of the link now.
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They were supposed to be tiny monkeys kept in the sleeves of scribes in ancient China. They licked up any spilt ink. Totally fictional though.
 
lordmongrove said:
They were supposed to be tiny monkeys kept in the sleeves of scribes in ancient China. They licked up any spilt ink. Totally fictional though.
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I've come to the conclusion I either invented or was misinformed about the detail that they were trained to refill the scribes pens. The addiction to india ink rings a bell, though. So, as a zoologist, as far as you know, are there any monkeys or other primates native to China or that would have been accessible to the Chinese that are small enough to have inspired the legend? When thinking of small monkeys, I can think only of the new world marmosets and tamarins. Of the Asian primates, I can think only of the prosimians, such as the tarsier and tailless loris, which could have been considered types of monkey. I doubt the mouse lemurs would have been known to Chinese scribes.
 
PeteByrdie said:
I've come to the conclusion I either invented or was misinformed about the detail that they were trained to refill the scribes pens. The addiction to india ink rings a bell, though. So, as a zoologist, as far as you know, are there any monkeys or other primates native to China or that would have been accessible to the Chinese that are small enough to have inspired the legend? When thinking of small monkeys, I can think only of the new world marmosets and tamarins. Of the Asian primates, I can think only of the prosimians, such as the tarsier and tailless loris, which could have been considered types of monkey. I doubt the mouse lemurs would have been known to Chinese scribes.
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This is the smallest old world monkey I could find.Not sure about trade between China and Africa at the time though.

Smallest-Monkeys_-Talapoin-Monkey-768x401.png


The talapoin monkey is one of the smallest monkeys in Africa and is found in the central-western part of the continent. With a weight between 1.76 to 4.19 pounds, this animal has a body length of between 10 and 16 inches and a tail that is just as long or longer.

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/top-10-smallest-monkeys-in-the-world/
 
Nosmo King said:
This is the smallest old world monkey I could find.Not sure about trade between China and Africa at the time though.

View attachment 44402

The talapoin monkey is one of the smallest monkeys in Africa and is found in the central-western part of the continent. With a weight between 1.76 to 4.19 pounds, this animal has a body length of between 10 and 16 inches and a tail that is just as long or longer.

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/top-10-smallest-monkeys-in-the-world/
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He's an adorable wee fella.
 
PeteByrdie said:
I've come to the conclusion I either invented or was misinformed about the detail that they were trained to refill the scribes pens. The addiction to india ink rings a bell, though. So, as a zoologist, as far as you know, are there any monkeys or other primates native to China or that would have been accessible to the Chinese that are small enough to have inspired the legend? When thinking of small monkeys, I can think only of the new world marmosets and tamarins. Of the Asian primates, I can think only of the prosimians, such as the tarsier and tailless loris, which could have been considered types of monkey. I doubt the mouse lemurs would have been known to Chinese scribes.
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No Asian monkeys are that small. Slow or slender loris or tarsier maybe.

Karl Shuker has written about it.
http://karlshuker.blogspot.com/2012/09/kicking-up-stink-about-ink-monkey.html
 
I've taught writing exercises using visual prompts and 'mystery bags' and all sorts of items, but only for those very new to writing. Most of the authors I know have a head full of ideas and wouldn't need anything like this to start them off.

It does make me wonder a bit, I'm in lots of writers' groups on Facebook and there seems to be an increasing number of 'I've just started writing a book and I need a description/job/hobby for my hero and a storyline! What can he be doing when he meets the heroine who's a vet/trainspotter/weaver' etc etc. I find myself wondering if these are actually authors or just people who've heard that writing will make them millions are are now in search of a story.
 
catseye said:
I've taught writing exercises using visual prompts and 'mystery bags' and all sorts of items, but only for those very new to writing. Most of the authors I know have a head full of ideas and wouldn't need anything like this to start them off.

It does make me wonder a bit, I'm in lots of writers' groups on Facebook and there seems to be an increasing number of 'I've just started writing a book and I need a description/job/hobby for my hero and a storyline! What can he be doing when he meets the heroine who's a vet/trainspotter/weaver' etc etc. I find myself wondering if these are actually authors or just people who've heard that writing will make them millions are are now in search of a story.
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Yeah, in my experience having a head full of ideas is what prompts writers to write. Lacking good prose is the problem, or I'd be published by now. If you don't like trawling books for ideas when world-building, and you're not interested in studying story structure, you probably don't have a writer in you. But the cards look nice, and I do like mythical beasts. I'd consider a set just for that.
 
Yes, that was what I was thinking.

You are not going to start writing if you have no story to tell.

Or doing research on a subject; likewise you will have a story. You may be impassioned, you may have in depth knowledge, but until you have a story you will get no where!

And if you are going to write about monsters you will either have the imagination to make something up, or to seek a traditional folktale book.
 
Kondoru said:
Yes, that was what I was thinking.

You are not going to start writing if you have no story to tell.

Or doing research on a subject; likewise you will have a story. You may be impassioned, you may have in depth knowledge, but until you have a story you will get no where!

And if you are going to write about monsters you will either have the imagination to make something up, or to seek a traditional folktale book.
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Exactly. However so many 'wannabe' writers don't really have a book full of ideas. They've usually got an anecdote (and it's quite often 'something funny that happened to me') which would make about a chapter but they think they can get a whole book out of it.
 
catseye said:
Exactly. However so many 'wannabe' writers don't really have a book full of ideas. They've usually got an anecdote (and it's quite often 'something funny that happened to me') which would make about a chapter but they think they can get a whole book out of it.
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True. Developing an idea from a seed of inspiration can be difficult. However, if one writes and enjoys writing, all one has to do often is live life with a notebook. Before long, it'll be full of scenarios, dialogue, characters, plot points, all harvested from events, conversations, news stories, random things googled.
 
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