First Person POV and Character Descriptions
by Mary Kole | Former literary agent, now a freelance editor, writing teacher, and IP/story developer for major publishers and creators.
Finding a clever way to write character descriptions in first person POV (point of view) can be tricky. After all, how many people talk and think about what they look like on a regular basis? You don't want to resort to the same old “I stared in the mirror” or “I wished I had red hair instead of my mousy brown” approaches. Those are incredibly familiar for first person POV self-description.
Contrivance in First Person POV
A cringe-worthy first person POV example would be: “I examined my dark brown locks in the mirror, giving my tall frame a once-over, and wishing, for once, that my blue-green eyes would just pick a color and stick with it.” Are we really expected to believe that's how real humans organically describe themselves? Readers don’t tend to react well to this kind of hackneyed self-description.
The better way to write character description from a first person POV is to stop trying so hard and throw in necessary details as you go, rather than putting so much pressure on describing everything about your character in the first scene. There’s no reason you have to fully physically describe each character the first time we meet them. Give readers the basics (in a way that sounds natural for the first person POV character) and then add other details later.
If you’re wondering how to write character descriptions, by giving small details from time to time, writers allow readers to make their own judgments about what the character looks like without feeling overloaded by information or contrived descriptions coming from first person POV narration.
“I shook my head to clear the thick black hair out of my eyes, and took off running across the field” or similar is a good way to put this into action. This gives readers a detail, and then they can collect other data points to complete their mental pictures.
Other Tips for First Person POV Character Description
Be careful not to overdo it when introducing physical details and obvious telling in dialogue. Keep it as natural-sounding as possible (no “Your skirt looks great with your hazel eyes” talk, just “your eyes” … both characters know what color they’re referring to). Remember you don’t need to be overly creative in your character description. Don’t get too “third-person” (or third-person-style narration in first person) when describing a character in first person. Different levels of narrative distance exist between first person POV and third person POV, so lean into the point of view you’ve chosen, instead of conflating the two most commonly used perspectives.
When it comes to character description in first person POV, less is more. Just tell us what we need to know and move on. It's hard to make character description interesting, but it's not the most important element of the story. Sprinkle a few details here and there, and that should do it.
Finally, be very careful in issues of non minorities writing minority characters and how you describe various skin tones and physical characteristics in general. This has become a hot button issue. More here on how to write diverse characters.
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