You want to plant the bulbs as close together as possible without touching one another. Also, you may notice that some bulbs have a rather flat side compared to the other. This should go next the pot (without touching it); perhaps about 1/2 inch away from the edge. Fill the pot with some good potting soil or bulb soil which is available at nurseries and garden stores. This is usually a good mixture of peat and/or vermiculite often with a bit of charcoal mixed in, and some soil. This makes for a friable, well-draining medium for the bulbs to grow in. Plant them deep enough to come up to the level of the pot, but with their "noses" (the pointed end) peeping just over the soil level. The soil level should be about an inch below the rim of the pot itself. Water them well after planting; and if they are paperwhites or tazettas in general, you do not have to chill them. In fact, chilling these is detrimental, so avoid it. Keep them in a cool, low light area until you see some shoots pop up, then gradually bring them into more light and warmth. Be careful at this statge: bringing them out to both too fast will cause them to blast or fail to flower, or the flowers can be deformed, so notice how they are developing and do this slowly.

If they are other types of narcissus, you need to keep them cool and dark for about eight-ten weeks. This does not mean in the freezer; but about 40-45 F. Narcissus need less chilling than many other types of bulbs. As aforementioned, paperwhite types need none at all. Same steps as mentioned after the cooling period.

The "two times as deep" rule is for planting them outside.

thanks for all that information!
how little is meant by "low light" because it's not too sunny here in portland with the overcast moving in for the duration. i was assured by someone at a local nursery that the UVs would come through the gloom by it sure isn't anywhere near bright! should i start them in the (darkish) middle of a room & move them towards the window when they shoulder-up some shoots?

That sounds about right to me. You can even keep them in the dark for a couple of weeks, but check them often. This slows them down of course, but when they start to show some stems, you must give them a bit more light. Go easy on the watering too; not too much. You have the right idea though; and, of course, not too warm a room, either. You might have to try different areas of your house to see which works best for you.

I simply planted my paperwhite narcissis bulbs about 2 inches deep in one of those long shallow plastic window planters around my Coleus, set it in my morning light window & enjoyed a beautiful crop of flowers last Winter. This year I'm going to try to figure out when to plant them to get blooms at Christmas.