: 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"?

@Ann1701686

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By definition breaking the fourth wall means acknowledging the existence of the audience. If you acknowledge you are a member of a story or that there is an audience outside of it, you are breaking the fourth wall. I would argue this even goes so far as to apply to stories nested inside others. People generally frown upon the breaking of the fourth wall from within the story, as those are people who should not have knowledge of the "outside narrative". Narrators often can do it if they have the right perspective, but still normally shouldn't as it is a distraction to call attention to the framing devices.

That does not mean you should not break the fourth wall. The fourth wall is a tool and it is left in place to leave the reader in the story and keep them from being distracted by the inconsequential.

However, you're not really asking about the fourth wall; What you are asking is with your example is whether your narrator can tell a lie and then admit they were lying. The core of your example is a deception, not necessarily an evil one, and there happens to be a more appropriate convention: Unreliable Narrator. Unreliable Narrators are tough to write well without losing your audience. You are trying to build a relationship of trust, that you are imparting an interesting tail. So, the deceits the narrator dallies in must be more interesting than playing it straight if they are to be successful.

Unreliable narration can be used to comedic effect, as almost anything. But a "just joking" line is likely to be seen as derivative or annoy your readers, so if you're going to do this, I'd advise you to figure out how to stretch and do it well for a good reason.

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