Women Who Write | A Place, A Space, A Voice | Louisville, Kentucky Feb 10, 2026 - 6:00 pm
Louisville
Investigating the Modes of Narrative
with Kathleen Driskell, Kentucky Poet Laureate 2025-26
In this interactive talk, we’ll explore the modes of narrative, some of the most fundamental tools in our creative writing tool box—next to words, I suppose. Our discussion will focus on the all-important qualities needed for great scenes (which even some experienced writers find troublesome to deploy successfully), but also, we’ll spend some time exploring summary—and why it doesn’t have to be BORING. Finally, the third mode of narrative I’ll talk about is the ever confusing but also very useful mode of half-scene—what the heck it is and why might writers use it? Bring in a piece or two of your recent writing (from any genre) to my session, and we’ll work together to identify which modes you use most regularly, fruitfully, and if you are using the right modes for the right moments. I’ll present mentor texts from fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for children and young adults, playwriting and screenwriting as the modes of narrative are well at work in all genres.