[Buddhist]

This has been nagging me for a bit. Does the narrator describe him/herself in a first person story? If so, how does one accomplish this without it sounding arrogant or subjective? If not, how is the narrator described, then?

[Spinner]

Only if he's arrogant.

Ben

[Regitnui]

You can use the wonderful real-world device known as the mirror, or you can have other characters describe them bit by bit. I used the mirror idea to give a basic idea of what Mark looks like in Firebound:

“Coming Mom!” I yelled back, slipping into the bathroom to wash off most of the blood. I splashed water on my hair, so it covered my forehead instead of standing up like it normally did. A bruise was forming under my one eye. At least purple went with light blue.

And later I tell you what his hair colour is through his ability...

But the best thing to do is leave the first-person narrator as much of a void as possible without him/her being a complete vacuum. That way, it's easier for the reader to project and put themselves in the narrator's shoes.

---,-'-@

[Wikkid X]

You can use the wonderful real-world device known as the mirror

Yeah, that's an okay technique to a certain extent, as long as it doesn't seem like the character can only tell what they look like by looking in a mirror. I've made that mistake before.

Basically only describe them if you can weave it effectively into the narrative. "...I said, playing with my light brown hair" and things like that generally sound a bit contrived.

[Burgoo King]

That would mean that i was a girl, as the first person character in my story is a female. But i'm not. So, seriously, that wouldn't work now, would it?

[garfield]

Personally, I really don't like it when the narrator describes his/herself physically. I just don't consider it important because I prefer letting the reader make up their own image of the character. I sort of think it's more engaging that way. I think the furthest I've gone in terms of physical description is say that he/she has 'dark hair' or something like that. I just don't do it, unless it's actually somewhat important to the story.

I'm not all that fond of the mirror technique because it just seems like a medium for an infodump. That and in everyday life, I don't look at myself in the mirror and suddenly remark on how there's a twig caught in my curly red hair. People don't think that way. 'There's a twig caught in my hair'. I know what colour my hair is, so I wouldn't mention it.

It just sounds weird to me.

[American Flag]

Well, I really don't like it when characters aren't described, it gives me much less to work with when I picture the scene in my head. As for describing yourself in First Person narritive, just do as Wikkid said, bit by bit piece the image of your character into your narritive.

[Bagenbaggage]

This has been nagging me for a bit. Does the narrator describe him/herself in a first person story? If so, how does one accomplish this without it sounding arrogant or subjective? If not, how is the narrator described, then?

The personality is described over time I usually use the cheap cop out of looking into a mirror or water.

[Regitnui]

Personally, I really don't like it when the narrator describes his/herself physically. I just don't consider it important because I prefer letting the reader make up their own image of the character. I sort of think it's more engaging that way. I think the furthest I've gone in terms of physical description is say that he/she has 'dark hair' or something like that. I just don't do it, unless it's actually somewhat important to the story.

I'm not all that fond of the mirror technique because it just seems like a medium for an infodump. That and in everyday life, I don't look at myself in the mirror and suddenly remark on how there's a twig caught in my curly red hair. People don't think that way. 'There's a twig caught in my hair'. I know what colour my hair is, so I wouldn't mention it.

It just sounds weird to me.

It's actually quite easy (comparitively) to do the "there's a twig caught in my hair". Don't tell me you'd not notice a stick in your hair if your brush your hair back.

And I do do the mirror thing occasionally. Like 'hey I look tired' kinda thing.

---,-'-@

[Anya]

I'm not all that fond of the mirror technique because it just seems like a medium for an infodump. That and in everyday life, I don't look at myself in the mirror and suddenly remark on how there's a twig caught in my curly red hair. People don't think that way. 'There's a twig caught in my hair'. I know what colour my hair is, so I wouldn't mention it.

It just sounds weird to me.

I agree with what you're saying there, but at the same time there are a lot of things that are commented on in narrative that people don't think about with the same language, or at all sometimes. Just like I don't think about my hair color when I look in the mirror, I don't think about a lot of details about a room that I enter either, and you'll see a lot of setting described in first person, even if it is just the narrator's bedroom. You can't really compare prose to the way that people think, because people don't really think about things in as much detail as prose usually has.

I think that if you're doing the mirror technique, instead of just making it an infodump, it's better to think more of what the character would think about themselves if they looked in the mirror. Would the character be more likely to check themselves out, or pick apart their flaws? Think about what they would have to say about themselves, then add whatever other details you feel you need to add in bit by bit.

I still think it's best to leave the narrator's image fairly vague. The goal of first person is usually so that you can see the world through the narrator's eyes, and that's usually easier for people to do if they are allowed the freedom to make the character look how they want in their mind.

[Rinion]

If you want t describe the narrator, one of the more effective devices I've is through describing their relatives. For example, both parents are described at one point and the narrator reveals that she inherited her mother's hair and her father's build, or whatever the case may be. It just seems more natural to me that someone would mention how he takes after his parents or looks like his siblings than scrutinizing his reflection.

Another technique is referring to how ageing has affected the narrator. Glancing at a photograph of himself when he was small, a chubby, blond toddler perhaps, he notes that since then his hair has darkened to brown and he's much skinnier.

[Yeerk Slayer]

In one of my fanfictions(for Fire Emblem, which you will not find here), I write in first person. Even though the readers hopefully already know what the characters look like, I felt the need to describe them, because that give me the feeling that I could hand the story to someone who didn't know anything about Fire Emblem, and they could read it and enjoy it just fine. I naturally came across the same problem you did, but found a solution. I simply had the protagonist compare himself to another person. Sort of like this:

. . . His legs and arms are longer than mine, and his feet and hands and everything, except for his face. His trusting eyes aren’t in proportion to the rest of his body. His nose is long but thin, and his lips are practically nonexistent . . . just a thin line on his face.

Our thin lips are about the only thing we have in common physically. Everywhere he’s big, I’m small. I’m short and slight of frame. You could cram me into a bathtub made for a child, I’d wager. Two of my hands could fit under one of his. I’d have to jump with both feet if I wanted to stamp on his foot. My critical red eyes--red being the opposite color of blue--are a lot wider than his are. Also, my nose is short, but wide . . . .

So, yeah. However these circumstance may have worked for me simply because the protagonist is very critical of himself, yet also very arrogant. Not too sure if that was the only reason it worked, or what. But I also found I could do the same sort of thing with the personailties of the two characters.

Again, I'm not sure if I was a special case because of the nature of my character or not. If not, I would recommend the protagonist comparing him/herself to a possible love interest, or someone else they admire, like a role model or something . . . ?

This post has been edited by Yeerk Slayer: 16 July 2009 - 07:50 PM

[Regitnui]

If you want t describe the narrator, one of the more effective devices I've is through describing their relatives. For example, both parents are described at one point and the narrator reveals that she inherited her mother's hair and her father's build, or whatever the case may be. It just seems more natural to me that someone would mention how he takes after his parents or looks like his siblings than scrutinizing his reflection.

Doesn't work when you only see the parents once. i kill them (and every other adult) in the world quickly. For the changes that happen during the book, i use the device of the other characters. EG: love interest distracts him by commenting on the length of his hair.

---,-'-@