Joshua Minton's Online Pulpit : Understanding Abney’s Effect in the Creation of Fiction

Understanding Abney’s Effect in the Creation of Fiction

The [psychological and biological] phenomenon whereby when a large area is suddenly illuminated, the light seems to appear first in the center of the patch (rather than appearing all at once) and then spreads outwards towards the edges. When the light is extinguished, the edges disappear first and the center last.
–Dictionary of Theories page 2–

A good short story should follow Abney’s effect in the opening sentence by being a concentrated burst of energy which captures the reader’s immediate attention but which also contains the entire kinetic possibility of the full story. A novel, on the other hand, expands the scope of this principle and its execution meaning the first three paragraphs serve the same function as the first sentence of a short story. Likewise, the first chapter of a novel begins the kinetic expansion of the story the way an effective first paragraph of a short story does.

It’s helpful to understand Abney’s effect when pacing the focus and flow of both short and long fiction. Beginning with a concentrated center full of explosive narrative potential and then allowing this energy to dissipate outwardly in all directions is the key to creating interesting and effective fiction, the primary difference being the size and scope of the story itself (i.e. the shorter the fiction, the smaller the narrative sphere and kinetic energy needed to carry out the narrative to successful completion).

All observable phenomenon is subject to Abney’s Effect including the creation of successful narrative fiction. The Universe itself is an explosion of space and matter from a single concentrated point of energy which expanded outwards in all directions simultaneously. Excellent writers will respect this model of creation as the foundation of generating effective and successful fictional art.

photo credit: bandita