Found out most writing prompts from the 1800s were just moral lessons

I was digging through old writing magazines at a used bookstore in Portland last weekend and came across a collection of prompts from the 1880s. Almost every single one was like 'write a story about a boy who learns honesty pays off' or 'a girl who saves her family through hard work.' No villains, no gray areas. Just straight up lessons. It made me realize how much we take gritty prompts for granted now. Anybody else stumble on old writing stuff that surprised you?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray_hernandez9d ago

Makes you think how different things were back then.

william_henderson9d ago

Holy crap. Wait, you mean people actually lived without smartphones and GPS and just... figured it out? That's insane to me.