how do you all feel about authors breaking the 4th wall? too distracting? or fun insight?
4th wall
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Comments
Technique
It's all about how it's done. No rigid refusal to consider any technique that works to increase a readers involvement in the story.
That said, some people WILL reject fourth-wall breaking for their own reasons. It is what it is.
I sometimes do a minimal sort of fourth-wall breaking in which a first-person protagonist will make a parenthetical comment to an unseen observer. (Know what I mean?)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Depends
Which isn’t helpful, is it?
Honestly, while my mentor wasn’t a fan, I’ve done it in some of my humorous stories — occasionally, and kind of in the light manner Erin suggested. It can work. I’m pretty sure that Alyssa Plant used the technique very effectively in Fake It ’til You Make It, and lots of readers really loved that story.
— Emma
ignoring literary conventions
They're useful and should be looked be looked at as at least a caution sign, but if they are followed too rigidly you might as well let an AI write the story from an outline. Write your story the way you think works. If in doubt; try a draft, at least in your head, both ways and see which one works for you.
It's a fun technique, but you need to be careful
It's fine, but my problem with a lot of fourth wall breaks is that the writer often thinks that doing a fourth wall break is itself a joke. It's like one of those terrible sitcoms where an actor looks into the camera to give a "Well that just happened," comment. And if the original joke isn't funny, you're doubling down on a bad joke.
"Tomato sauce? I thought you said tomato paste!"
(looks into the camera) "I knew sending her to the store was a bad idea."
Ow. My ribs.
That said, it can be a funny technique for offering another perspective. Like if the story is written from the perspective of the main character relating something that happened, you can inject some self-deprecating humor as their older and wiser self offers some commentary to the audience. It can also set up some foreshadowing. Like:
I smiled and waved as I sent her off to the market. If you'd asked me at the time, I genuinely thought she could handle it. But as I look back on that day, in my heart, I knew she was doomed to failure. She had a better chance of coming back with enriched uranium than tomato sauce.
Okay, it's not hilarious, but you get the idea. :)
Depends...
...on the overall feel of the story, and whether its style is conducive to that kind of break. (All of which is pretty obvious, I guess.) I'd agree with Emma that it worked well in "Fake It...". Can't recall any stories recently where doing so seemed intrusive; then again, it isn't used a lot here, at least in stories I've read.
Eric
wrong term
perhaps im using the wrong term.
how do readers feel when the author inserts an out of story comment?
What do you mean?
Are you describing something like:
Or something more like:
I'd say either of those would be fine in a story that didn't take itself too seriously.
Trains of thought
I generally try to avoid explicit fourth wall usage though I do know it works in some stories. I think it can break the illusion of a well-constructed plot scenario.
Instead what I do is to allow the reader to - sometimes - know what is going through the current character's thoughts, that will usually be the main character but may sometimes be others. That allows the readers to get information not available to other characters and can fill out a personality witout having to otherwise describe it explicitly in the main story line.
Penny
Dogs have owners; cats have staff. Grand-daughters have minions.