I find I like writing in 1st person, because I like an inner monologue, or random thought train once in a while, but I've realized... when I write first person, I sometimes completely forget to describe the character. I find it hard to get in, simply because I never look at my reflection and think about describing myself. And sometimes when I read first person, having the character describe themselves sometimes bumps me out of the reading groove. Especially outfit descriptions, which I see a lot in the occasional cheesy romance I pick up. My last short story, I ended up just sneaking in little bits, but only in how they interacted with the world, like their hair color when another character ruffled it, or their build when someone was surprised at how strong they were. But I'm not sure those little bits of description are enough or not.
So, when you're writing in 1st person how/when do you fit in the character description? And how much description do you usually include?
v42: - - - HM
I am horrible at description, so I've taken some classes on it.
Strategy 1 - compare and contrast yourself to others. "I have [my father's] hair too, a dirty red color like Tennessee clay" (The Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage by Alix E. Harrow) "we made a strange pair. Annie, a stout, tall Apache woman, had severely thick eyebrows and lips that turned down, even when she smiled. She also shaved her head daily, as if preparing for war. Her features contrasted with my girlish face and willowy frame. Primary school bullies called me "Pocahontas," so it goes without saying that I never braided my hair. However, I kept it long to protect my ears and back from the sun." ("Nkásht íí" by Darcie Little Badger)
Strategy 2 - give narrator's opinion on their looks, or how it affects their actions instead of just a straight mirror description. Can't find a good example of this at the moment, but this would be things like "I hate my big nose" or "I slather on the sunscreen since my mayonnaise white skin burns so easy"
Hope that helps!
SHM - 4
HM - 11
R - 11
My published works
I find I like writing in 1st person,
You could use action and thought to mix in description.
Clothing and implied MC sex: My body armor pinched like a cheap bra under the department-issued Blues as I ...
Thought, if you have a spot to slip in MC name: You’ve got this, {enter MC name}.
Description mixed with action:
- I twisted a hair tie in and jogged through the ...
- I squared my five-eight frame and checked my duty belt. LED torch, two hinged cuffs, ...
Stuff like that.
Avoid using the "looking in a mirror" trick.
Writers of the Future:
2026 V43: Submitted
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), HM, SHM
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
Other Achievements:
2025 SWA: Crime Fiction Contest - 1st Place, The Lighthouse Prompt - 3rd Place
Todd S. Jones
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
Another way to accomplish this is through secondary character interactions and dialogue. Other characters in the story talking about them to others, or even directly to them.
"It's my own fault. I should have never underestimated you. I saw your puny arms and skinny legs and took that for weakness. But what you lack in muscle, you more than make up for in mind."
"There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
— W. Somerset Maugham
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
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Cheers.
I think the issue may be that when you read first person, you think about yourself.
Then, when there's a description, you suddenly realise it's not about you after all.
Horror story:
I wrote a piece about club (not writing) girls, in first person, describing their clothes and such.
It was the start of a much larger story.
I felt awkward reading it, so let someone else read it out at a club (writing).
Got some very odd looks and conversations afterwards.
People, obviously, took first person to mean autobiographical.
And I felt too embarrassed to discuss and clarify the situation.
Awkward!
So making sure there is adequate, and early, clarification that the character is not intended to be the reader, nor the author, is key.
Thankfully that shouldn’t be an issue here, since readers know every story for Wrters of the Future is speculative. 👍🏻
"There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
— W. Somerset Maugham
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
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HMx6
R/RWCx6
This is going to sound obvious, but I'm working in sequential logic. When you're writing in First Person, you are writing a person. People don't think about their appearance in a factual way. (Almost) no one has ever though "I have size 32B breasts and long brown hair."
People usually think in feelings, relationships. "I wish I was as handsome/tall as Jeff," or "I hope Lisa notices I put on my bright red lipstick that I save for special occasions." As others have mentioned, comments from other characters are another useful tool, though we should take care that it still sounds natural. Just because it is a way to show the reader such details, doesn't mean it's the right way right then, or that any application of it will be good writing. There's also plenty a reader will infer; if everyone in the village is in tunics and tights, then our POV character will be in their mind's eye as well.
And do not worry about readers assuming that because it's First Person it's autobiographical. The majority of novels published today are First Person. That would be an unhinged assumption to make, and one I've never encountered in dozens of different writing circles and hundreds of exchanged crits.
I squared my five-eight frame and checked my duty belt.
Not to pick on anyone (apologies Todd), but I not a huge fan of this. Has anyone thought of their exact height while donning a belt, or anything else for that matter? Something more like "my duty belt sagged despite being clipped to the smallest notch" (or however else a duty belt is tightened) - I appreciate that that gives info about weight/width rather than height, but is a character's precise height actually important in more stories? More often we just want a rough idea of their height relative to those around them; their enemy is bigger (and scarier) or their father is smaller and frailer and MC feels they need to be protected.
I do like this though:
I twisted a hair tie in and jogged through the
Natural and efficient. And I could not agree more on skipping the mirror scene. If I read a mirror scene I also read the unwritten words saying "I'M A NOVICE WRITER THAT HASN'T REALLY STUDIED THE CRAFT OR PUT MUCH THOUGHT INTO THIS" scrawled on the mirror in black lipstick.
VOL 40 2nd Quarter: Third Place ("Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber")
Past submissions: R - HM - HM - HM - HM - HM - SHM - SHM
www.jd-writes.com
Kindle Vella - Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Kaybee
And do not worry about readers assuming that because it's First Person it's autobiographical. The majority of novels published today are First Person. That would be an unhinged assumption to make, and one I've never encountered in dozens of different writing circles and hundreds of exchanged crits.
Same. The stories that throw me are the ones in second person where the description doesn't match me. But I've read a couple where it works. Extremely difficult skill.
SHM - 4
HM - 11
R - 11
My published works
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(Almost) no one has ever though "I have size 32B breasts and long brown hair."
Actually, we're talking women here.
I remember using the line, "that dress makes you look fat."
The lady then replied, along the lines, "really, I was thinking the same thing," and got self conscious and embarrassed.
So she was obviously thinking a lot about her dress.
The read bit was not finished and was just the beginning, so had a way to go.
I would be highly surprised if women, going out at least, aren't thinking about their attire, makeup, jewellery, quite frequently.
"I hope Lisa notices I put on my bright red lipstick
See.
Though I would think Lisa would be more concerned about her own lipstick, and not of the competitions.
Love and war.
comments from other characters a
Yes.
That's would be a good way.
That would be an unhinged assumption to make, and one I've never encountered in dozens of different writing circles and hundreds of exchanged crits.
They were much older and mostly realistic, autobiographical readers, I believe.
I was listening to Twilight and there's an early, enough, line where the girl can't remember/know something (I think it was the name of the place), but her narration filled it in for the reader.
I seemed a bit odd.
Of course the narration could come after the story occurred.
Still pulled me out of the story for a moment.
@reigheena That's my white whale: to write a good second-person story that doesn't confuse the reader. Ideally in Future Tense as well. Without leaning on any other viewpoints (i.e., switching to third-person or present tense in some sort of frame story).
VOL 40 2nd Quarter: Third Place ("Ashes to Ashes, Blood to Carbonfiber")
Past submissions: R - HM - HM - HM - HM - HM - SHM - SHM
www.jd-writes.com
Kindle Vella - Ashes to Ashes, Earth to Kaybee
@ease Good point on the exact height description. When I read that out loud before submitting it sounded funny, but I left it. Could have been a contributor to why the story didn't place higher in WotF. 
Writers of the Future:
2026 V43: Submitted
2025 V42: RWC, HM (HM Resubmit), HM, SHM
2024 V41: RWC (HM Resubmit), HM, RWC, Finalist (RWC Resubmit)
2023 V40: HM, HM, R, HM
2022 V39: SHM, HM, Semi-finalist, HM (HM Resubmit)
2021 V38: -, -, -, HM
2020 V37: -, R, -, -
Other Achievements:
2025 SWA: Crime Fiction Contest - 1st Place, The Lighthouse Prompt - 3rd Place
Todd S. Jones
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."~ Henry Ford
Movement can be a good way to get body stature in e.g. how walking up a steep hill feels on the knees, lifting something heavy and/or by bending the back/knees, or falling into a wall and how the impact feels.
And do not worry about readers assuming that because it's First Person it's autobiographical. The majority of novels published today are First Person. That would be an unhinged assumption to make, and one I've never encountered in dozens of different writing circles and hundreds of exchanged crits.
I've a second person story that a few readers thought was autobiographical! It's not speculative. The way the feedback was given, I took it as a compliment that they thought I was writing from lived experience.
35: - R R R | 36: R HM R R | 37: HM HM HM SHM | 38: HM HM HM HM | 39: HM HM HM SHM | 40: HM R SHM SHM | 41: R HM SHM R | 42: HM R R HM
5 SHM / 15 HM / 11 R
, I took it as a compliment that they thought I was writing from lived experience.
I hadn't thought of it that way.
Thanks.
Also, don't forget, fan fiction is a thing.
Most of that is people inserting themselves into SciFi and Fantasy.
About as disturbing as that sentence makes it sound no doubt.
Often women swooning in Captain Kirk's arms or such.
I think one woman even edited tapes to put herself in every scene, or something like that.
Trekkies!
(Disclaimer: I am a Trekkie too.)
I squared my five-eight frame and checked my duty belt.
Not to pick on anyone (apologies Todd), but I not a huge fan of this. Has anyone thought of their exact height while donning a belt, or anything else for that matter?
Now that I've thought about it, I've realized that there are times when a narrator does want to emphasize exactly how tall/short they are. Some examples: "I'm a six-foot woman and wear heels. Deal with it." "I'm only five-foot seven. Most other swordsmen outreach me." Without a reason for the emphasis, it does feel weird, and will be a forgettable detail for me.
SHM - 4
HM - 11
R - 11
My published works
"I'm a six-foot woman and wear heels. Deal with it."
I remember Axle Foley saying something like, "So, how long does it take you to shave those legs any way?"
Most people would assume he doesn't mean she has wide legs.
The Shaving suggests preparing the legs to be on display, another indicator of them being long, as opposed to wide, or short.
Or at least the fact he would suggest she takes the time to shave them.
The fact he is mentioning her legs, another.
Then there's ZZ Top...
"I'm only five-foot seven. Most other swordsmen outreach me."
I'd just be thinking, who would have this guy as a swordsman?
"I'm the only dwarf in the village."
Maybe in a comedy.
and will be a forgettable detail for me.
Unless they keep saying it.
"Pass us a plate, I'm only five-foot seven."
"Slow down, I'm only five-foot seven."
"Stop shouting, I'm only five-foot seven."
You will remember, oh yes, you will remember.
