: Re: Can a writer joke with the reader without breaking the fourth wall? Can I, for example, write a whole new storyline inside my novel, and then say something, for example such as: "just kidding"?

@Pierce369

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It might be jarring for the reader if it happens in the middle of the text and your text is otherwise in the perspective of the character and not directed at the reader. It is often better to have the character speak to someone else or to use inner monologue.

However, there are other ways to adress the reader directly, for example Terry Pratchett occasionally used footnotes for that purpose. It might not fit for a non-humorous book, but if you are otherwise employing humor, adding a footnote with a remark about the character, story or event might work, e.g.

John punched the bear on the nose and the bear turned around and ran, never to be seen again².
²John actually got eaten by the bear, but this is how he would have told the story if he hadn't died a gruesome death.

It did take an exceptional writer like Terry Pratchett to make them work, so your mileage may vary.

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