: Re: How can I convey that my viewpoint character is lying? When writing in the first person, what is a good way to convey that the viewpoint character is lying, without saying so explicitly?

@Rivera824

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What you are talking about is essentially an unreliable narrator.

Unreliable narrators can be mentally ill (Humbert Humbert in 'Lolita), have a character flaw (boastful, ignorant - Chaucers 'Wife of Bath for example), or immature, such as Huckleberry Finn.

In each case, the unreliability can be signalled much as in real life - lack of credibility. Your character can contradict himself, or contradict what the reader knows in the text, or lie to other characters (Intratextual signs) or contradict real life or social norms (Extratextual signs).

Nabokov's Humbert Humbert does most of these, and is an outstanding example of an unreliable, lying, narrator. Well worth reading if you are looking for ideas.

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