Breaking the fourth wall is REALLY COMMON on TV these days. Have you seen The Office? Parks & Recreation? The Muppets? Have you noticed those character interviews that take place in another room, in front of the camera? Where the character is talking to the audience, giving the audience a little more information than the other characters know, usually for comic effect?

You can break the fourth wall in your writing by using second person narrative:

Have you ever been to the mountains? They're breathtaking in the summer, but in the winter, they can be tragically dangerous. My story begins in October.

I arrived at the lodge...

From here out you could tell the story in first person and never mention "you" again, but you broke the fourth wall in your opening paragraph by speaking directly to the reader.



Cheers,
Michelle