: Re: How to describe POV characters? I want to describe my first person perspective character who's narrating without doing the Wattpad "mirror scene." How would I go about this?

@Michele605

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This depends on whether you're using past-tense or present-tense narration: whether the narrator is looking back at things that have already occurred, or describing events as they occur.

If you're using past-tense narration, the narrator can always describe themselves while setting the scene, just as a normal third-person narrator would do. One of my novels uses first-person past-tense narration, and I set up her description of herself like so:

Apart from the [giant robot] in my backyard, my life really wasn't that interesting up until my first battle. But I suppose I should talk a little about it anyway.

She then provides a paragraph of personal information, a brief physical description, then segues straight into the actual storyline.

If you're using present-tense narration, it's going to look a bit odd if the character suddenly pauses the action for a couple of paragraphs to describe themselves. The best approach may be just to drop bits and pieces here and there when they become relevant, either through the narrator themselves or through other characters pointing them out.

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