Achieving first-person narration in fiction writing is not easy. For a character to evoke himself and other characters and at the same time give an engaging account of a series of events is no small feat. To use a first-person narrator for your story, you need to understand the various types of first-person narrators. The distance from which they tell the story and how much credibility they offer in telling the story. Primarily, there are two types of the first-person narrator, objective and heroic. But we also have secondary classifications like retrospective and unreliable narrators.

The Objective First Person

This character is often not the most important; they just happen to be privy to other characters enough to witness a part of the drama as it unfolds. We might hear about their personal experiences, but the story revolves more around the main character than around anyone else. Also, they may be flat characters who don't really capture readers' interest like the main character, nor do they develop as main characters do.

They may have little to no involvement in the story, but on the whole, they are like a human camera reporting the events as they occur. This slightly remote first-person narrator gives a neutral account of the story devoid of any endorsement or a particular opinion of the characters or actions in the story. This perspective helps to tell a story about an appealing yet unreliable main character; any other viewpoint will either be less engaging or too biased.  

Good examples of this point of view are Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby and Ishmael in Moby Dick. Both characters tell the story about charismatic central characters with questionable morals without bringing readers too close to them.

The Heroic First Person

This narrator takes an active role in the story and is usually the main character. They often — and sometimes subtly — pass judgments about the other characters and situations in the story and invite the reader to share their bias. An objective first-person allows us to reach our own conclusions about characters and events in the story. But the heroic first-person makes us assume that they are telling the truth and obliges us to uphold their convictions and theories about everyone and everything happening in the story. 

The heroic narrator shares the same opinion of other characters as the author. Sometimes, this is not obvious, as a skilled writer would make it look like the hero is being objective. But with a closer look, it becomes evident that the hero is too close and too involved to be unbiased. 

Using this perspective, a good writer can portray the narrator's bias and beliefs while making readers aware that the opposite is likely the case. This technique is also known as double consciousness. Classic examples of heroic narrators are Philip Marlowe in the detective series by Raymond Chandler and Huck in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

The Retrospective Narrator

Here, the narrator recalls past events from an earlier period of their life — when they were younger and inexperienced. They often tell their story with some degree of intellectual and emotional intelligence, calling out the naivete and youthful exuberance displayed by their younger self.

They might tell a nostalgic story of the ordeal they encountered in life and make adult comments about their actions. And readers are encouraged to root for them in their struggle and focus more on their younger, innocent perspective of the story. Sometimes, the narration is devoid of any adult commentary or standpoint, as the story is narrated entirely from the perspective of the narrator's younger self.

Also, this narration style could aim to tell a story with an enigmatic calm that passes no judgement or criticism and doesn't require readers to do so either. Or it could do the opposite, and the narrator looks at their younger selves with frustration or even contempt. The narrator could be an antihero, encouraging readers to adopt his adult perspective of the story, sharing his disgust instead of endorsing his heroism.

Good examples of retrospective narration style are Ruth in Housekeeping, Jane in Jane Eyre and David in Giovanni's Room.

The Unreliable Narrator

Here, readers can’t trust this narrator because he is probably lying to them. In the most basic version, this narrator is definitely lying to readers; the lack of credibility is not in doubt. He could be telling lies out of spite to create a false narrative about another character. And before the end, it becomes clear to readers that he is twisting some facts of the story to serve his ill and malicious intent.

Some unreliable narrators are simply delusional, but readers soon realize this. And sometimes, even readers get dragged into the delusion. Rue in the HBO series, Euphoria, is a typical example. She is a drug addict narrating events she witnessed while under the influence. We understand from the onset that her narration can’t be trusted, especially in the scene where she thinks the lobby is spinning.

Still, some unreliable narrators are hard to figure out, and their narration doesn't help readers to determine whether they are telling the truth or not. Here, the narrator drops clues of other possible facts in play but doesn't clarify the veracity of his claims. Readers have a good reason not to trust this narration but can’t easily dismiss it as untrue. Stories that use this narration intend to impress a deeper meaning that transcends the veracity or otherwise of the narrator's story.

Some classic examples of unreliable narrators are Theo Faber in The Silent Patient and the Changez in Reluctant Fundamentalist.