What are the motifs in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne?

Authorial voice is a recurring idea. Whereas in most novels an author communicates his opinion through the narrative and the characters, Laurence Sterne makes the reader not only aware of his opinions directly, but that he is writing the book. Many times, Tristram refers to what he is writing and what it means in context to the novel. This extends to Tristram's writing about himself at a desk in present time.