If you’re writing a first person narrative, avoid having the viewpoint character describe themselves in painstaking detail. Instead, bring in key characteristics that are relevant to who they are (e.g. they’re overweight and trying to shed excess pounds – or they’re unusually tall / short and it bothers them).
— www.aliventures.com/character-descriptions
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📖 Notes & analysis
The reason this works is that first person narration is supposed to feel like a mind in motion, not a mirror report. Real people don't inventory their own hair color while making toast. What they do notice is whatever trips them up day to day. So instead of a paragraph describing a character as short, let her reach for a mug on a high shelf and miss, or duck under a doorway built for someone else's height. That single beat tells us she's short and that it shapes her world, without ever pausing the story to describe her.
The caution: don't swing so hard toward subtlety that readers end up confused or forced to backtrack later when a detail suddenly matters. A little clarity, planted early and naturally, saves you from feeling like you're withholding information just to seem clever.
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