Lodge focuses each chapter upon one aspect of the art of fiction, comprising some fifty topics pertaining to novels or short stories by English and American writers. Every chapter also begins with a passage from classic or modern literature that Lodge feels embodies the technique or topic at hand. Some of the topics Lodge analyzes are Beginning (the first chapter), The Intrusive Author, The Epistolary Novel, Magic realism, Irony, symbolism, and Metafiction.
Lodge breaks down each chapter into a single aspect of fiction, encompassing roughly fifty topics covering novels and short stories by British and American authors. Each chapter commences with a passage from classic or contemporary literature that Lodge deems relevant to the topic being examined.