Lodge is an author whom I respect highly, but he also taught as an academic for many years and so understands the ‘process’ of fiction better than most. As the title of this work suggests, Lodge's collection of brief essays (they originally appeared in a serialized form in The Independent) talk about the techniques or architecture that authors use when constructing some of their novels. Whether these approaches are conscious decisions or more an unconscious/subconscious part of the writing process is open to debate. Perhaps the clue is in the title, namely that writing fiction is an art (and not a science). Nonetheless, it is evident to me from the passages selected by Lodge (everything from Austen to Amis) just how talented authors are. Writing is a non-trivial exercise — as I found — and there is a big step from being good to being truly great. Maintaining a consistent style across a novel also requires considerable effort. Essential reading for anyone interested in fiction and the novel.
By David Lodge