This is slightly off-side to your question, but I'll say it anyway...
You don't always have to describe a narrating protagonist in huge detail unless knowing what she/he looks like is relevant to what's going on. I'm 25k words into a story and still haven't mentioned what my protag's eye or hair colour is. The reader knows a few things - that he wore ugg boots in one scene, has short legs, wore jeans and a T-shirt compared to one person's dress in another - because they were relevant to his thought process or events in the scene. Anything else? They won't know. In most scenes it's never mentioned what he's wearing.
(I write in very limited 3rd through a single protag's POV, so I have some of the same restrictions with regards to what a protagonist notices about him/herself.)
The beauty of a 1st person POV is that you are right inside your character's head. Their thoughts on themselves, the scene, and the world around them, are really far more important, and story-enriching, than something like eye-colour, IMO. If it's relevant to the scene, on the character's mind, something the character would notice and observe, then by all means, share it, but if it's not ... maybe you don't have to. For me, it's not about a reader stepping into a character's shoes, more that ... such things really aren't always relevant! I just don't think readers need to know that said character has blue eyes if knowing doesn't enhance the scene/story, and the lack of thinking about such things is in character.
At the end of the day, I'm far more interested in a character's thoughts and emotional state than their appearance, but I do know that not everyone feels the same way. :)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-12-06 07:22 am (UTC)You don't always have to describe a narrating protagonist in huge detail unless knowing what she/he looks like is relevant to what's going on. I'm 25k words into a story and still haven't mentioned what my protag's eye or hair colour is. The reader knows a few things - that he wore ugg boots in one scene, has short legs, wore jeans and a T-shirt compared to one person's dress in another - because they were relevant to his thought process or events in the scene. Anything else? They won't know. In most scenes it's never mentioned what he's wearing.
(I write in very limited 3rd through a single protag's POV, so I have some of the same restrictions with regards to what a protagonist notices about him/herself.)
The beauty of a 1st person POV is that you are right inside your character's head. Their thoughts on themselves, the scene, and the world around them, are really far more important, and story-enriching, than something like eye-colour, IMO. If it's relevant to the scene, on the character's mind, something the character would notice and observe, then by all means, share it, but if it's not ... maybe you don't have to. For me, it's not about a reader stepping into a character's shoes, more that ... such things really aren't always relevant! I just don't think readers need to know that said character has blue eyes if knowing doesn't enhance the scene/story, and the lack of thinking about such things is in character.
At the end of the day, I'm far more interested in a character's thoughts and emotional state than their appearance, but I do know that not everyone feels the same way. :)